You're Still The One
by Copperpelt
Summary: It's been seven months since Shun and Fabia's fight, and he ran off and was found by Alice. A lot of feelings have developed between the two. Especially after learning Alice is pregnant. Based of the song by Shania Twain. Sequeal to Broken Bones! READ PLZ
1. Peaceful Times

_Shun_

I was sitting on a bench in a park about two miles from the house. For the past month I had come to this bench everyday, whether it was in the morning, or night. And every time I did, I always had the same questions run through my mind. _What if I'm not a good father? What if me and Alice aren't ready yet?_

I figured this was an issue for anyone that was just told they'd be a parent, so I tried to make myself feel less out of place about it. I sighed and heard a car horn. I turned my head and saw Alice waving her hand out of the car window, and yelling at me to hurry up or she'd leave me there. Alice knew I spent most of my time at the park now, so she'd pick my up after work.

Lucky for her, the manager changed her hours so she didn't have to work as long, but was getting the same pay. I climbed into the passenger seat and leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. I asked her, "Have fun at work today?" She rolled her eyes and waved her hand in the air for emphasis. "If by fun you mean cleaning up everything somebody drops and breaks, then yes."

I chuckled at her sarcasm and buckled my seatbelt. I knew soon I'd have to get a job myself to help pay for the upcoming expenses. I had my high school diploma, but cause of my grandfather and his non-stop training, I never really thought about college. I mean, I couldn't ever of seen that I'd be living with Alice in Moscow and having a baby. I don't anyone really expected that. As far as I knew, Dan and the others didn't know about Alice's pregnancy, but I knew Alice probably at least told Runo or Julie.

Summer was now beginning to arrive in the city, and everything was fully in bloom and beautiful. The weather was a comfortable temperature, the sun was shining, and the city was alive with people shopping and vacationing. It was completely opposite of how it was in winter, when me and the others first came her. The streets were abandoned, the days didn't last long, and everything was covered in snow and barren.

We passed some signs stuck in the ground telling people to go to this store because they were having a sale, but they didn't seem to be obtaining anyone's attention. I realized Alice had turned on the radio, and some guy was speaking in Russian, but I could at least tell it was an advertisement.

In my almost six or seven month stay, I had picked up a little bit of the language. Just enough to figure out what some people might be talking about. Alice had attempted to teach me some time ago, but she eventually gave up trying to drive the words into my brain. The car swerved on the winding road that led to the house. The road looked like something out of a travel magazine talking about the world's most beautiful country roads.

With the trees fully bloomed, the leaves stretched the limbs over enough to make something that looked like an archway over the street. And with the sunlight filtering through the branches gave the road little splotches of gold. A lady, who leaved near us, was walking down her long driveway and retrieving her mail. Alice waved at her as we drove by.

I never really talked to the elderly lady, but Alice had known her for some time, and told me she had even watched Alice when she was little. The orange haired girl turned the steering wheel and the car pulled into a driveway, which led to the house we lived in together. It at one point, had been Dr. Michaels, formerly known to the brawlers as Hal G. But when he died in a car crash a few months back, he left the house, which was fully paid off, to me and Alice. The house had gotten some remodeling done thanks to Alice. She had spent an entire week outside putting plants into the ground, and it looked terrific.

The flowers she had planted had begun to bloom, and the little shrubs placed behind them were doing great. She turned the car off, and we both climbed out. "Hey, Shun. Could you help me get something out of the trunk?" I closed my door and said, "Sure. No problem." She stuck a key into the trunk and pulled out some brown paper bags, which were filled with groceries.

That was one good thing about her working at the grocery store, she got a good discount on food items. And since she was pregnant, the manager gave her another discount to make saving money up for when the baby came easier. I honestly thought this whole ordeal would be hectic, but since we knew some kind people who were helping out, things were going pretty smoothly.

I placed my bag of groceries on the kitchen counter, and began putting the items where they belonged. Alice did the same, and soon we were left with two empty paper bags, which Alice folded and stuck them in a drawer with other paper bags. For some reason she kept those things, but they did come in handy once, but I couldn't exactly remember what we did with it. Alice walked over to me and kissed me on the lips and told me, "I think I'm gunna go take a nap. Kay?"

I told her go right ahead, and sat down at the kitchen table with the newspaper, looking for some kind of job that might hire me for a little while. Just long enough that I could make some money. There was some kind of doctor position open, and that made me think back to the first time Alice was struck with morning sickness. It wasn't a very pretty thing, but thankfully for this doctor at the clinic, she was able to get some kind of medicine that helped with it.

She occasionally got sick every now and then, but seemed like it was never when I was around. _Thank heavens._ The rest of the jobs were one time deals, and I needed something to at least last maybe a month. I folded the paper closed and turned the TV on. We had moved one of the TVs from the upstairs bedrooms into the kitchen.

Mainly for news and weather purposes. There was some weatherman pointing to our area and saying there was a slight chance of rain tomorrow in the morning, which was weatherman speak for 'odds are there's gunna be clouds and I don't want to say that it will rain so I'll say there's a chance.' He then listed the temperatures for the week, and it appeared it would be getting warmer and warmer everyday, then the temperature would drop drastically by the next week. They cut him off and went on with the headlines.

It was your basic news; a shooting and robbery in the bad side of town, some political scandal, and then the usual weird story, which was a man being attacked by a bird cause he was trying to steal its food. I shook my head. _What kind of world do we live in when people steal food from birds?_

I turned the TV off and walked towards the room Alice and I shared. We had added some furniture in the room, so now it wasn't just a bed and a few dressers. There was now a love seat in front of the window, a TV placed on a dresser, and a few other chairs. Oddly enough, this was the only room with carpeting, and the cream colored carpet matched perfectly with the walls, which we painted a shade lighter than the carpet.

Alice was laying on her side sleeping, and she had the blanket pulled up to where it almost covered her face. I smiled, proud that I was the one with her, proud that I was going to be a father, and proud that I loved her to death.

Her big brown eyes opened up and looked up and me, then she sat up, pushing the covers to her lap. "Hey, Shun." I sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, then kissed her on the top of her head. "Have a nice nap?" She smiled and nodded her head.

"Yep. That is, till you woke me up." I glared at her and said, "I didn't even make a sound. How could I of woken you up?" She giggled and said, "Jeez. Take a joke once and a while." I kissed her on her lips, and she placed her hand over her stomach where her baby was. _I guess, only time will tell if I'm a good father._

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><p>well, i began working on the sequal. this is kind of like a re-cap. X3 i find it funny that right now im watching Bakugan Mechtanium Surge. Is there anything Shun doesnt look good in? lol. beh. i have so much crap to do today. -.- 90% of it my dad could of done before he left for work. -.-'' that's what i get for being in a lazy family. well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	2. Optimism

_Alice_

Not taking my medicine, was the biggest mistake I had ever made. I was trapped in the bathroom, and Shun was leaning against the sink next to me. I tied my hair to the side and glared up at him. "You know this is your fault. Right?" He shrugged and said, "Eh. True."

I glared harder at him and he put his hands up like I had just pulled a gun. "Sorry. You know I can't help but be a smartass at times. If it makes any difference, I'm not having much fun standing here watching." I grabbed the cup of water Shun had brought me a while ago, and rinsed my mouth out.

"At least you're not the one down here trying to throw your stomach up." He slid down the cabinets of the sink and sat next to me. "Well, that's your problem for not taking the meds." I wanted to throw the empty rinse cup at him, but knew he was right. I thought I was past the morning sickness, but I guessed wrong. I felt as though I was about to have another onset, but it was a false alarm.

Shun rubbed my back and refilled the cup in the sink. I knew he really didn't want to be in here, I couldn't blame him, but he was toughing it out and that meant a lot to me. I felt my stomach calming down, and decided it was safe enough to take the medicine without it coming back up. Shun reached into the cabinet next to the sink and handed me the bottle. I took the two pills like it said, and Shun helped me to my feet.

Sarcastically, he asked me, "You hungry?" I glared at him, and hit him in his chest with my fist. He bent over when I knocked the air out of him, and he forced out his words. "I'll take that as a no." I left him in the bathroom and sat on the bed, and noticed an almost unnoticeable bump under my shirt.

I knew it wasn't anything I ate, since I basically just emptied my stomach, so it could only mean one other thing. Most other people wouldn't of noticed unless they focused immensely hard, but it was easy for me. Shun walked out of the bathroom, rubbing the spot where I just hit him at. "You know, you're very abusive." I smiled and retorted back, "And you really deserve more abuse than I give you."

He stared at me and took a step back. I laughed and told him I was joking around, but I don't think he bought it. He slowly walked over and sat on the bed, and was looking around the room, probably for something to protect himself if I tried to hit him again. I rolled my eyes and told him to quit being so paranoid. His body loosened up and wasn't as tense now.

My phone then began ringing, and I got up and walked over to the dresser where mine, and Shun's, cell phones were laying connected to there chargers. I saw it was Murucho's number, and I flipped the phone open and accepted his call. "Hey Murucho…Really…That'd be great…Yeah, we really miss you guys…Ok, see you in three days…" Shun tilted his head to the side in confusion, and I told him, "Dan, Runo, Julie, and Murucho are going to spend a month in their cabin in Khimiki. Apparently Murucho has some family near there and they're visiting them, and they're also going to drop by and visit us."

Shun didn't look too thrilled about this. "What's wrong?" He looked at me and we both said at the same time, "Dan." Even though I hadn't told any of the others about my pregnancy, it wouldn't be easy to hide it after another month or so. _I could always say I was just putting on some weight, but they aren't that slow…..Well, Dan might buy it._ I knew Runo, Julie, and Murucho would handle it fairly maturely if they found out, but Dan was another story, and Shun knew that most of all.

_Shun_

The whole issue with Dan coming over here, would possibly result in his death. In another month or so, Alice would be showing just a little, but enough to be noticed. And I knew if Dan found out she was pregnant, I would never hear the end of it. Just like when we were in 6th grade and he caught me kissing an old girlfriend. He did the whole spastic thing and it resulted in him getting a knot on his head, courtesy of me.

I didn't care if the others came over or not, I knew if Alice hadn't told any of them, they would still handle it better than my idiot friend if any of them found out._ Maybe they'll only visit once….Oh who am I kidding? They'll be here every other day._ I flopped back on the bed, and startled Alice when I did. I knew she was staring at me when she said, "What are you doing?" My head was hanging off the side of the bed, and I felt the blood rushing slowly to it.

"I'm trying to make my head explode so I don't have to deal with Dan." She walked over next to me and looked down at me, and was shaking her head. "I don't think it works like that, Shun." I looked up at her, still laying on the bed in the same position, and said, "Well, if I stay like this for three days it might." Alice rolled her eyes and picked up a pillow, then dropped it on my face. I closed my eyes as it hit me, then opened them back up when it fell to the floor.

She was walking out of the room, and I quickly sat up and chased after her. "Hey, wait up!" I stopped and wobbled back and forth, leaning on the wall for support. She turned around and told me, "That's what you get for trying to make your head explode." I stayed there against the wall until all the blood returned where it needed to be, then followed her into the kitchen. She was opening the curtains to the window that was next to the kitchen table, and I saw a lite rain falling from the sky.

_What do ya know. The weatherman was right for once._ Alice then cracked the window slightly, and clean, fresh air quickly filled the room. "I thought it'd be nice to let the house air out some. So could you please open the windows in the upstairs rooms?" I sighed and walked up the stairs. First, I went into Alice's old room, and opened the windows. Then it was mine. I thought back to all our little moments we spent in here, both happy, and bad. I walked over next to my old bed and forced the window open.

Lastly, was Dr. Michaels' old room. I will admit, the room needed some airing out. The smell of old, abandoned room was pouring into the hallway. His windows were the only ones with locks on them, and of course, they were rusted shut. My teeth clenched as I tried to pry the lock loose, and when it finally gave way, it swung to the unlocked position, and I nearly lost my balance because of that. I looked around, expecting somebody to of seen my fail, and opened the window.

I then left the room and went back down the stairs, and saw Alice had gotten the rest of the windows opened. She was back in the kitchen, but was holding herself up on the counter. "Alice, what's wrong?" She was taking slow breathes and told me, "I feel like I'm gunna be sick again."

I quickly reached for the nearest trashcan and placed it next to her. We both knew the meds didn't stop the vomiting completely, but it did help a lot. She sat next to the trashcan and held her stomach. "You want me to bring you some water?" She nodded her head and I walked over to the sink and filled another cup up with water.

Once I handed it to her, she slowly sipped on the water and was beginning to look better. "How ya feeling now?" She handed back the empty cup to me and said, "Better. I think I'm gunna lay down on the couch though." I helped her into the living room, and placed a small wastebasket next to her in case she did get sick again. _It's going to be a long nine months. Isn't it?_

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><p>i went through several plot ideas for this chapter before settling on this one. -.- so far i think the first chapter was a pretty good success so far. lots of positive reviews for it. X3 so, thanks to all have reviewed and read so far. a lot of people who wanted to read this story, went and read Broken Bones first, so that increased the story stats for it. again, thanks. XP so, now you know the drill. read, review, and other wonderful things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	3. Disfunctional Friends

_Alice_

Shun and I had just finished straightening up the house, preparing it for the arrival of our friends. Three days flew by, and in a few hours Murucho, Dan, and the others would be at their cabin in Khimiki, and then coming over here and going out to eat with us. Shun and I had agreed we would tell them; I would let Runo and Julie know about my pregnancy, and Shun would tell Dan and Murucho, which seemed fair enough. Of course, he put up an argument, but I eventually one, and his argument was invalid.

Shun was fluffing out a people when he said, "Why are we cleaning up the house if we're going out to eat with them, as soon as they get here?" I was getting the last bit of dust off of a table and told him, "They might stay here for a little while and talk before leaving. Plus, the house needs it." He shook his head and fluffed another pillow. My phone rang from inside of the purse, which I had placed on the kitchen table for when we left. I saw it was Runo's number, and accepted the call.

"Hey Runo…You guys just got to the cabin?….Ok, so you'll be here within the hour…..Kay, bye." Shun was looking at me, and obviously knew what I had said, because he headed towards our room to go change into something nicer than his torn jeans and white shirt. I decided what I had on was ok. It was just one of my darker purple dresses that came right at my knees. I felt my stomach flutter with excitement of my friends knowing I was pregnant.

Shun stepped back into the living room wearing his khaki pants and green and white shirt, with his black choker around his neck. On most people, the choker would of looked like a dog collar, but Shun made it work in so many ways. He plopped on the couch and said, "So, how long are they planning to kidnap us?" I rolled my eyes and told him, "They said we might be out for a couple of hours. It all depends on how busy the restaurant is." He nodded his head, and his eyes were closed. Every time he did that, I couldn't ever tell if he was listening, or not.

A car horn rang out through the house, and I saw Murucho's limo parked in the driveway. Shun turned his head around and said, "Looks like they're early. Well, lets get this over with." I scooped up my purse and followed Shun out of the door. All of the brawlers were standing outside the limo, ready to greet us.

Runo and Julie were standing next to each other, and Dan and Murucho were next to them. My two friends ran up to me and hugged me, while Dan and Shun greeted each other with their usual handshake, and Murucho just told him hello.

Murucho then got all of our attention, and said, "Our reservations expire soon, so let's all catch up in the limo." _I can't take it anymore. I'm gunna tell them right now while the boys get in the limo._ "Hey Julie, Runo. Can I tell you two something real quick before we get in the limo? Just so the boys won't hear us." They exchanged looks at each other and I took a deep breath.

_Shun_

The sounds of girlish squeals pierced the walls of the limo, and all of us stared out the windows and the ecstatic, jumping girls. Dan looked at Murucho and I and said, "I wonder what they said." I watched as the two girls hugged Alice, and knew she had told them. _Shame Dan won't react like that…..Then again, I don't want him squealing like a little girl and hugging my neck…..That just wouldn't be right._ Alice placed a finger to her lips. _Probably letting them know not to tell Dan and Murucho._

They all smiled at each other and got into the limo. Alice sat next to me, Runo was next to Dan, and Julie placed herself in the seat next to Murucho. Alice buckled her seatbelt and said, "Sorry about the hold-up." Murucho waved a hand and told her it wasn't a problem, then he signaled Kato to begin driving. Alice nudged my side with her elbow, and I looked at her. She was staring at me and I knew it was a mental message saying, _"It's your turn to tell Dan and Murucho."_

I nodded my head and mouthed to her that I was aware of it. Kato drove the limo for ten minutes, following the directions on his GPS, and we then pulled into a restaurant that I had never seen before. It was a steak and seafood place, and it looked pretty expensive. _Makes me wish I wore something a little bit more formal._ Once we walked through the door, a man behind a podium looked up from a piece of paper and smiled.

"Marakura? Party of six?" Murucho nodded, and the podium guy walked us over to a long, wooden table with three seats on each side. The girls sat on one side, and we sat on the other. I was across from Alice, naturally. Another waiter came and gave us each a menu and asked us what we wanted to drink. We all requested water for our drink, and six glasses were quickly brought to us.

The waiter then disappeared, leaving us to make our decision of what we wanted to eat. He returned once he noticed all of our menus were placed on the table, and asked us for our orders. Murucho ordered some meal with a really long name, Dan got a steak, and I ordered some shrimp dish. He moved to the girls, and they all ordered the same dish, which was shrimp scampi if my memory was right. The waited scooped up our menus and ran off into the kitchen. The only ones talking were the girls.

Murucho was fixing the silverware they had misplaced, Dan had stuck his finger in his water and was stirring the ice, and I was just sitting there. _Maybe this would be a good time to tell them. _I cleared my throat, and all eyes were on me. I felt adrenaline rush through me, and my stomach was doing back flips from how nervous I had suddenly become. _Now I know how Alice feels when she gets sick._

I closed my eyes and said, "Well, Runo and Julie know about this already, but you guys don't. And Alice is basically forcing me to do this, thank you Alice, but me and Alice are going to have a baby." Murucho clapped his hands together and congratulated us, while Dan nearly fell out of his chair, and choked on his water. When he was coughing, Runo had gotten hit by some water and was wiping it away. Once he calmed down, he immediately said, "You got Alice pregnant?"

_Thanks Dan, let the whole damn restaurant hear ya._ People were already staring from when Dan was choking, now there were even more from his outburst. _Why couldn't he of choked to death?_ I hit his arm and told him, "Dan, shut the hell up. You've already embarrassed yourself, don't bring anyone else into this!" He then leaned back in his chair and laughed. "I knew you two were sleeping together, but I didn't expect this much.

Well, maybe I should of." Alice was blushing madly, and I glared at my idiot friend. _This is why I didn't want to tell him._ He then had one of the wet hand towels, that was brought out to us when we arrived, thrown at him. We all looked at where it came from, and saw Runo glaring at Dan.

Her eyes had daggers pointed at him and she growled, "Dan, shut up. You're embarrassing not only Shun and Alice, but also everyone else at this table!" He slid down into his seat, as if it would protect him from the bluenette's wrath. I mouthed a thanks to Runo, and she told me, "No problem. He's my idiot too, and somebody has to keep him in check." Our meals then came, and we all enjoyed the food.

Murucho, who was paying the bill, wrote out a check for the amount, and we left the restaurant. Dan caught me before I got in the limo with the others. "Hey Shun, I just wanted to say sorry if I embarrassed you and Alice back in there. I was just kidding around. You know that, right?"

I smiled and said, "Yeah, I know. I honestly didn't want to tell you cause I knew you'd do something stupid like that." The brunette sweat dropped and scratched the back of his head before asking, "Can I at least do one thing?" I raised and eyebrow and said, "Go for it."

He then did a dance and started doing that 'bow chicka bow wow' thing. I stared at him, with horror in my eyes. "Please. Don't. EVER. Do. That. Again. So help me I will beat you to death." He nearly fell over laughing and quickly climbed into the limo, locking the doors as I did, and yelled up to Kato, "Drive! Forget him! Just drive!" Dan was knocking on the windows, begging not to be left behind. _With friends like this, who needs enemies?_

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><p>o.o lol. at least Dan's still alive. X3 would of been done sooner, but had homework to do first. -.- joy. i love the bow chicka bow wow part. XP i think i'd be scared too. o.O lol. well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	4. The Murder Of Our Little Moments

_Shun_

My body was stretched out on the couch, and I stared up at the rotating ceiling fan above me. Laughter and pointless conversations were bleeding into the living room from the kitchen, where Alice was talking to Dan and the others. They had decided to stay and visit us after we went out and ate, and they had been here for about an hour. I rubbed the sides of my head, trying to get some relief from the throbbing pain that was blighting me.

I heard Alice's voice tell the others she would be right back, and then she was standing behind the couch, looking down at me. "What are you doing lying around in here, when our friends are in the kitchen?" I looked at the orange haired girl and said softly, "My head is killing me, and the last thing I want is Dan's loud mouth making it worse." She rolled her eyes and walked towards our room, and threw a bottle of Advil on me.

"There little miracle workers. Just take one and you'll be good to go." I glared at her and she went back into the kitchen, apologizing to the others for suddenly leaving. I took off the cap and took the appropriate amount of pills, and continued laying on the couch until they kicked in. I closed my eyes, hoping that would speed up the relief quicker, and then heard Dan cry out in pain, and that was followed by Runo calling him an idiot.

I chuckled and thought about all the stupid things he could of said to make the bluenette angry, which wasn't much. I smiled and then opened my eyes, and had Dan staring at me right in my face. I blinked a few times before making my mind register what was going on, then I screamed, causing Dan to fall backwards, and me to fall off the couch.

"What the hell Dan!" The goggle headed brunette was holding his sides laughing, and I narrowed my eyes and him and growled. "Dan, you're so dead!" He immediately stopped laughing at stared at me, then got up on his feet and ran behind Alice. "Don't let him kill me!"

Alice's eyes widened as she was suddenly being used as a human shield, then she turned he head backwards and stared at Dan. Alice sighed and said, "Let him live another day, Shun." I growled and said, "Fine." Dan then laughed and blurted out, "Dude, Alice has got you whipped!…Uh oh." Dan shot out the front door and I was chasing after him.

_Alice_

"Get back here Kuso so I can kill you!" Murucho shook his head and said, "Dan's in trouble. Shun's calling him by his last name." Dan was running around outside, and was being pursued by an angry Shun. "OW! Hey! Shun! Put the stick down! Put the stick down!" Runo closed the door that the boys had left open, and shook her head in shame. Murucho was peeking out through the window and flinched as Shun got his hands on Dan. The little blond looked at Runo, Julie, and I and asked, "Shouldn't we stop them? I mean, he does have a stick."

Julie's bubbly voice then said, "There's nothing to worry about! This is a good character building experience for Dan!" Murucho didn't seem to understand how it was one. We all shrugged our shoulders and walked back into the kitchen. While we were sitting back at the table, Shun was the first to come back into the house. His eyes were closed as he shut the door behind him. Murucho looked behind him and said, "Is Dan, you know, still alive?"

Shun sat at the table with his arms folded across his chest and said, "He was when I left him there." The door then opened up again, and Dan tumbled into the room. He had a twig with a leaf stuck in his hair, and bruises on his arms. He looked up at Shun and half spoke and half moaned, "Why'd you do that?"

Shun looked down at his battered friend and said, "Call me whipped again and see what happens!" Dan flinched and said, "I won't! I won't!" Dan then stumbled up to his feet, and made his way to the table where we were sitting at. Murucho was looking back and forth at Shun and Dan, with shock and fear in his eyes.

Julie reached over and picked the leaves and twigs out of the brunette's hair, and straightened a lock that was sticking out. Nobody really said anything, and Murucho then stood up and said quickly, "Ok, well it's been nice catching up with you two but we gotta get going. See you guys around." Julie asked Murucho why they were leaving. All the blonde did was grab her wrist and drag her out of the door.

I blinked a few times and stood up and cleaned off the table from cups and the twigs Julie pulled out of Dan's hair. "You know you could of really hurt him, Shun." Shun smirked and looked at me, "But I didn't." I shook my head side to side, feeling my curls hit my face. The house was now quiet without the loud voices of Runo, Julie, and Dan. Shun was still at the kitchen table, and was playing around with a salt shaker. "Don't spill any. I just cleaned off that table." He then left the salt shaker alone and leaned back into the chair and let out a long sigh.

I raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Are you bored? Or do you want attention?" He shrugged his shoulders and told me, "Maybe a little bit of both." I rolled my eyes and tossed a dry dishcloth at him and said, "Well, since you're somewhat bored, why don't you help me clean up?" He stared down at the rag and quickly sat up saying, "Oh, wait, did I say I was bored? I meant I wasn't bored."

I glared at him and he held his head down in defeat. "Fine. I'll help clean." I thanked him and handed him a bottle of cleaner. I was turned away from him and was putting my hair into a ponytail when I felt Shun's arms wrap around my waist. "What are you doing?" He rocked us side to side and said like a little halfway innocent kid, "Nothing. Just thought I'd hold the best girl in the world. Not many people get to say that ya know."

I felt my face heat up with a blush and a giggle escaped me. Shun placed his head on my shoulder and I then felt him place his hand on my stomach where my baby was. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Everything alright?" He opened his eyes back up and said, "Yeah. I just don't think my mind has still grasped that I'm going to be a father."

I let him rub my belly and told him, "I know what ya mean. It still doesn't seem real to me either." Shun held me tighter and we were just about to have one of our big romantic kisses, when Julie came busting through the door. Shun and I, both startled, separated from each other and stared at the silver haired girl that had scared us to death.

She looked back at us and said, "Uh, sorry if I interrupted anything you two were about to do, but I left my purse. Soooo, I think I'll go get it and leave you two alone." We both nodded our heads and watched Julie reached under the table for her purse, and then quickly leave the house. Shun blinked his eyes rapidly and said, "Well, that was unexpected. Kinda killed the moment didn't it?" I nodded my head in agreement.

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><p>wow. epic failure. well, nothing interesting to say. read, review, and stuff. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	5. Droplets of Memories

_Alice_

I found myself wearing my dresses more often, mainly because the small bump in my belly was growing bigger everyday. I was almost two months now, and it wasn't a secret to Dan and the others, who would be going back home to Bay City in a week or so. Every time I talked with Runo and Julie, they kept congratulating me and pestering me to tell them what Shun and I were going to name the baby.

Neither me, nor Shun, have even had that come into a conversation yet. I would always tell my two friends that we didn't even know if it was a boy or girl yet, and it would probably be awhile before we knew anything. Shun suggested we let it be a surprise when the baby came, and I kind of liked that idea, but I still wanted to know so badly. My stomach felt as though it wanted to do a twist, but because of my meds, it didn't get that opportunity.

I was sitting down on a bench in the park that was a few miles from the house, and Shun, Dan, and all the others were here as well. Dan and Murucho were talking about new brawling strategies, Runo and Julie were babbling on about what I guess was boys, and Shun was leaning against a tree by himself.

I sighed. _Just like the old days._ I pushed myself up from my bench, and nobody seemed to noticed except Shun. I walked over and stood by his side, leaning against the tree just like him. The raven haired boy looked over at me with his sharp amber eyes, and I returned his stare. He cleared his throat and said, "And how may I help you?" I grinned and rocked back and forth on my heels and said, "I was just dropping by to say hi."

He smiled and slid down the tree, and sat at the roots. I raised an eyebrow and gazed down at him. "What? I got tired of standing." I sat down next to him and smiled. "You can't be having fun just sitting over here though." Shun closed his eyes and said plainly, "Well, I can only spend so much time around my friends before the little sanity I have left flees from my mind." I giggled, and he chuckled, then leaned over and kissed me on the top of my head.

And just as if on cue, Dan hopped over in front of us and sang, "Shun and Alice, sitting, uh, under a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g!" I expected Shun to lunge at the singing brunette, but he only stayed seated next to me. He let out a sarcastic sounding laugh and said, "Wow, like that hasn't been done before." Dan stopped singing and stared at Shun. _Guess he wasn't planning to get this kind of reaction from Shun._ The brunette stood there, looking around as if whatever he should do next would hit him in the face, then he went and walked off back to Murucho and the others.

Shun lifted his head and said victoriously, "One for me, none for the idiot. I'm like Charlie Sheen, always winning." I face palmed myself and shook my head and told him, "I can't believe you just said that. It almost makes me ashamed to know you." He held his sides as he started laughing, and then put an arm around my shoulder and brought me closer to him. I scooted over, and felt a piece of grass tickling the bare back of my leg where my dress wasn't covering.

I reached down and moved the grass away from the back of my leg so it wouldn't be a nuisance to me. My head placed itself on Shun's chest, and I sighed contently. It was little things like this that I enjoyed more than anything. The sky was growing orange with the approaching sunset, and the sounds of little kids squealing as they went down the slide began to die down.

Soon the park would be empty, and the only ones that would be out now would be nighttime joggers and the occasional young couple. _Looks like we might be that occasional young couple tonight._ Murucho walked over to us and informed us that they were heading back to the cabin, and offered us a ride home. Shun and I declined their offer and told them good-bye. The sun now was just slightly behind the skyline of the city, and the way the light reflected off the clouds made it appear like a gateway to a paradise. I could never make up my mind whether the sunsets were more beautiful in the summer, or winter.

_Maybe a really close tie._ Now, the sun had disappeared, but not enough to blacken out the sky, but just enough to turn it into a dark shade of blue and turn the silhouettes of trees into shadowed figures. Shun stood up, his face barely visible to me in the shadows of the night. He outstretched his hand to me, offering it to help me stand up. I wrapped my hand around it, and he pulled me up to my feet, and brushed the grass and dirt off of the back of my dress. "You wanna walk around a little bit before we head back to the house?"

I smiled, not knowing whether he could see it or not, and told him, "Sure. It's such a nice night. It'd be a shame to let it go to waste without enjoying it." He took my hand into his and guided me towards the center of the park. I knew what he was doing. He was taking me over to the water fountain, and in a few minutes the timer would go off and a dazzling display of lights would illuminate the water that fell from the top.

Crickets and other summertime bugs filled the thick night air with a symphony of sounds, and moths danced under to the sounds of summer under the little solar powered walkway lights. As we got closer to the center of the park, I heard the partially muted motor of the fountain, and the trickling sound of the water. The sky, now pitch black and painted with stars, told me the lights would cut on and treat anyone who came by with a wonderful display of lights.

We sat on a bench in front of the fountain, and while the lights were off, all you could make out was the shape of the structure. And just like clockwork, the timer went off, and the lights flipped on. The water exploded with bright colors that blended with the water and made it look like the water was made from rainbows. The blues and pinks were my favorite colors in the menagerie.

The lights were bright enough that it illuminated the enter area. What many people didn't know, was the reason this fountain was made to look so extravagant, was because it was actually in the center of the city, not just the park. I could now see Shun's face clearly, and he was gazing at the fountain, and had a smiled plastered on his face. His bravado filled voice spoke out and said smoothly, "This fountain, reminds me of the one we stood in front of all those years back."

The memory rushed into my mind, and I immediately thought back to that day. Shun and Dan had an argument, and Shun stormed off and left the brawlers behind, and I had chased after him and found him next to a big fountain surrounded by large pillars with statues placed on top of them. The Komba had jumped out of nowhere and challenged Shun to a brawl, which was a bad move on his part.

_I had learned a lot about Shun that day._ In my mind, I always considered that a little moment, and apparently Shun did too. He looked at me, and I saw how wonderfully his eyes looked against the night sky, with only the multicolored fountain lights to shine on them. The amber color itself was always breathtaking, but now with the lights, they sparkled and almost looked like something from another world. Somehow they just made the night even more magical.

While I was caught up in the captivation of his eyes, I never noticed he was talking to me. "Huh? What? Oh, sorry. I got distracted." I felt my face blush madly and I kind of turned away a little so he wouldn't see the little grin on my face. "It's ok. I was just asking you what moment the fountain reminded you of." _What moment does it remind me of?_

I sat there, staring at the droplets of rainbow colored mist break away from the rest of the falling water. I finally told him, "It reminds me of every moment. Cause all the colors are like the good, and bad times we've had. And the next random colors to appear, are like our moments yet to come. But in the end, where all the water is caught, is like our pool of memories. And that pool makes up the entire structure of us."

Shun looked at the fountain and back at me and smiled. "Wow. Thanks for diminishing my moment." I giggled and said, "Sorry, but you did ask." He chuckled and brought me close to him again, just like we were back under the tree before the sun went down. I took in a deep breath of the summer air, closed my eyes, and smiled. It had been a long time since I never wanted a night to end.

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><p>wow, already on chapter 5. :) sorry for late upload, but i got stuck cooking dinner some how. i think my dad pulled that reverse mind control thing. -.-'' i dont know what sparked the fountain memory, but i think it worked out pretty darn well. dont you? XP lol. well, we're back to the same ole same ole, no uploads on friday, and next week no upload friday OR saturday cause band is going to our first contest of the year so wish us luck! XD well, that's all for now. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	6. Shiver

_Shun_

My eyes were closed, and my body was laying in the bed next to Alice, but I wasn't asleep. She was sleeping in a blissful sleep, while I laid there, unable to reach my own rest. _Why can't I fall asleep this time?_ It felt weird for me to just lay there, but my body refused to get up to move, and my eyes felt weighted down by whatever was tormenting me. I turned my head a little bit and buried my face into my pillow.

I took in a deep breath, and smelled the detergent we used to was all of our clothes. A harsh shiver then struck my body, causing Alice to move a little because of my sudden movement. I let out a groan, and since my face was still buried into my pillow, it muffled the aggravated sound from Alice's ears. I slowly began growing cold, despite the fact that Alice and I were under a thick comforter. No matter where I forced myself to move, I couldn't get warm. I felt Alice's body sit up from the bed. "Shun, what's wrong?"

I removed my face from the pillow and looked at her, but I had the side of my head placed on the pillow now. "Just can't get to sleep cause I'm freezing." She turned her upper body around and turned on the lamp that was on the nightstand. Once the little click sounded, the room was lit up with a dim light. Alice turned back around, blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the sudden light. She took one looked at me and placed the back of her hand on my cheek, then my forehead.

"I don't see how you can be freezing, cause you're burning up, Shun." I hadn't even noticed that I was sweating slightly, or the muscle aches, which I had just put off as my body being tired. She climbed out of the bed and straightened her nightgown. "Where're you going?" She then reached for a ponytail holder that was on one of the dressers, and tied her hair up.

"I'm going to try and find you something for your fever." I didn't say anything as she left out of the room. I then curled my body up, and brought the comforter up against my body, still trying to find warmth, despite the fever that was racking my body.

_Alice_

I didn't care how late or early it was as I searched in cabinets for the bottle of Advil for Shun's fever. The bottle had disappeared from our bathroom, and I remembered I threw it at Shun when he had a headache. I hurried into the living room, and saw the small white container sitting on the coffee table. I stopped in the kitchen quickly and fixed a tall glass of ice water for him as well.

When I walked back into the room, Shun had bawled himself up in the blankets, seeking relief from his chills. He had appeared to of gotten a lot worse in my short absence. I twisted off the childproof cap, and dumped two of the pills into my hand. "Here, Shun. Sit up and take these." He opened his eyes back up, and they had that glazed over appearance. Shun forced himself up, his arms shaking as he propped himself up, and took the pills.

As he was laying down again, I asked him, "Do you want me to get you another blanket?" He curled back into the covers and nodded his head. I went into the hallway and reached into the closet and took out a few blankets. Once back in the room, I placed them on the floor next to Shun, and took on and draped it over him. "There's some more down here in case you want another."

His eyes were closed as he nodded his head again, and I grabbed one of the blankets, which appeared to be a white afghan, and laid down on the love seat that we had set in front of the window of our room. I had forgotten to turn out the lamp when I was over there, so I got out from under the thin covers and turned the switch, but looked at Shun before I did. He was still shivering slightly, the color in his face had already begun to drain, and around his eyes were dark. I was shocked how quickly he had grown ill. Now that the light was off, all I saw was the shape of his body laying in the bed.

I sighed. It wasn't like Shun to just suddenly get this ill. He had come down with a cold a few times, but it seemed to barely even affect him, so seeing him this weak was new to me. The love seat wasn't as comfortable as the bed, but I would make due. Once I was situated, I closed my eyes and drifted into a restless sleep.

_Alice_

I was sitting at the kitchen table, still in my nightclothes, and stirring a spoon in my cup of coffee. I sighed and looked out the window. It was truly a beautiful day, the kind of day that Shun and I would normally be out in and enjoying, but not today. At some point last night, Shun had gotten sick, and couldn't even get out of the bed now. His was slowly going down since I had given him two Advils, but he was still warm.

I was still looking out the window, when a car pulled into the driveway. I put the spoon in the sink, and walked over to the door, coffee in hand. I opened the door and our neighbor was standing there, with a basket full of apples and other fruits. "Oh, hello Mrs. Williams, please, come in." She bowed her head slightly and walked into the kitchen, where she placed her basket of fruit on the counter. "Hello, Alice. I had just picked some of my fruit trees behind my house and decided to bring you and Shun some."

Mrs. Williams, who had at one point watched me when I was little, was the kindest person in the whole town. She had grown fruits and vegetables her entire life, and sold them to people in the city. Even when it became easier for people to get their food in cans and in bulk, she kept on growing and selling. The lady was old, and her face showed all the years of wisdom she had obtained throughout her life.

She used to tell me stories when I was little, about when she first came to Moscow, and it was a fourth of the size it was now. That just proved how old she was. I offered her a cup of coffee, and she declined my offer and sat at the kitchen table. She folded her hands into each other and said, "So, how's everything going with you and Shun?" I sat across from her and said, "Pretty good. He's been sticking by my side during this whole thing." She smiled and nodded her head in approval. I had always stayed in contact with her, because she was practically family.

And she knew a lot about Shun because I had mentioned him to her several times, even though he had never talked to her. She looked around, as if something had changed. "So, where is the raven haired boy anyway?" I took a quick sip of my coffee, which had grown cold and no longer tasted good, and told her, "He's in our room sleeping. He had gotten sick last night and is resting up."

She looked concerned for Shun's health, and told me, "Aw. The poor thing. I can bring you some of my homemade medicines if you want." That was another thing she was good at. She made her own herbal remedies and used to sell them, but she stopped when the clinic was built in the city and people started going there.

It's safe to say, that progress and development wasn't good for her livelihood. "That would be great. Thank you." The elderly woman smiled and said, "Well, I'll drop them off later in the day. I hope Shun gets to feeling better. And, Alice. Remember, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

I told her, "I know. You're family to us." She smiled and left out the house and got into her car, then drove off back towards her house. I walked back into the kitchen, and grabbed one of the apples and bit into it. "Hm. Not bad."_ Shun and I are really lucky to know so many good people._

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><p>sorry for not uploading thursday. i had to suddenly go somewhere. -.-'' and everybody knows i have games on friday. so, who watched the new episode of mechtanium surge this morning? anyone? i cant wait for next weeks episode, because it's the first episode of the second arc that features mainly just Shun. XP well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	7. Deterioration

_Shun_

My eyes flew open, my breathing was short, and I was drenched in sweat. It was the third fever dream I had that night. I knew that if my body hadn't been beaten down by my fever, it would of shot right out of the bed, but instead I was trapped in the bed. Alice was somewhere in the house that night, possibly sleeping in another room so she wouldn't get sick. _I don't blame her. This thing has kept me bedridden for two days, it would probably hospitalize her._ I slowly rolled over onto my back, and stared up at the ceiling.

Just rolling over took all the energy I had. I had been doing somewhat better since I had gotten sick. The first day of my illness, I slept all day, barely ate or drank anything, and didn't say a word because I couldn't find the strength. I pushed the two or three blankets I had placed on me, away from the upper portion of my body so I could cool off.

The air conditioner then kicked in, just as if on cue, and the air felt good against my hot skin. I sighed in relief, and began to get cold. That seemed to be the most annoying thing in the world to me. To be hot and then freezing, no matter what you did. I quickly placed my hand over my mouth and coughed into it. The cough had popped up a few hours back, and it was one of those dry, painful coughs that you might as well be trying to expel a lung.

My sides were aching from the non-stop coughing every hour. Again, that was another part of my plague that was keeping me awake. I was still coughing when I heard the door click open, and Alice walked in. I cleared my throat, trying to make myself stop the relentless cough. I said hoarsely, "What are you doing up at this hour?" She walked over and flipped the lamp on, and my eyes squinted shut at the sudden illumination. "I woke up to use the bathroom and heard you trying to hack up a lung. Plus, you needed your temp checked anyway. Because I'm sure those Advil have worn off by now."

I weakly pushed myself up with my hands and sat up, leaning my back on the headboard just enough the it wasn't noticeable. Alice place a hand on my forehead and cheek. They felt as though they were made of ice, but I knew it was because of me. She shook her head and reached for the Advil that rested on the nightstand. She took two out again, then stared in the bottle and frowned.

"Looks like we're about out. Seems like I'll have to go get some tomorrow." She handed me the pills and my glass of water, that now had all the ice melted. The water going down my throat felt good from all the coughing I had been doing, but the relief was short lived when the minute I put the water down, and my cough returned. Alice jumped when I started up again, and she quickly handed me back to water.

She told me while I was drinking, "That cough you have sounds painful." I took a breath as I came back up for air and said, "It is painful." Alice sat next to me on the bed, and I stared at her like she was nuts. She looked at me and asked, "What?"

I turned my head the other way as another cough was escaped my body, and I told her once I was sure I was done, "I appreciate you taking care of me, but I don't want you to get sick too. If you get sick, then that really can't be good for the baby." She gave me a look and said, "Well, somebody needs to take care of you." I didn't say anything, and felt myself nodding off. Alice stood up and said, "You look like you're about to fall asleep. That means the meds are kicking in."

I slid back into the bed, and Alice grabbed the covers and brought them up to my shoulders. "I'm going back to bed. I'll check back in on you when I wake up, kay?" I nodded my head as she reached for the lamp and the room fell dark again. The door then closed, and I moved my body side to side so I could find a comfortable position on my back.

The pillow kind of wrapped around my head, giving my face warmth. At some point while I was sick, I had moved over and was laying on Alice's side of the bed. _Maybe she moved me over on this side._ I didn't mind it though because the pillow was filled with her scent. I closed my eyes, and went right back into another fever dream.

_Alice_

I was growing more and more concerned about Shun. His cough sounded horrible, and he looked to match it. His hair wasn't brushed at all, his face was pale, and around his eyes had gone from dark circles to red. Even his voice sounded cracked and damaged from its usual smooth, bravado tone.

I tried to push everything out of my mind till the morning, when depending on whether Shun was still getting worse, he might be taken to the hospital. I had been trying to just keep his fever down and let his body fight off what was making him sick, but that plan didn't seem to be working very well. And I also knew if they brought in a needle, that it might not end very well either.

I sighed and laid back down on the couch, covering my body up with a thin quilt. Reason I was sleeping here, was because it was close to Shun incase he needed something quickly. I closed my eyes, and heard Shun's muffled cough coming from our room. I sighed. I hated seeing him this sickly and weak.

It was almost sad that somebody that was that strong and fit, could just be knocked down so suddenly and unable to even get out of the bed. Even though my eyes were closed, I wanted to hear something other than Shun's tormenting cough.

I sat up and reached for the remote that went with the speaker system in the house, and turned it on and turned the volume down just enough that I could hear what song was on, but I could also hear Shun if he called my name. The music was helping put me into a trance induced slumber, and soon I would be sound asleep.

_Alice_

I woke up that morning because of a sudden sound, and I looked up to see Shun leaning against the wall, and he then began to wobble and was falling over. I rushed over to him and caught him, and slowly lowered him to the floor. I sat with him and said, "Shun, what the hell are you doing out of bed? Have you lost your mind?" He was bent over panting, and my hand then touched his arm. _He's burning up again._ His shoulders heaved with every breath, and he then looked up at me.

His eyes were heavily glazed over. He then brought his hand up to his mouth and coughed into it again. I stood up and walked over to the house phone. "That's it. You're going to the hospital." He didn't say anything and only leaned against the wall of the hallway and began to shiver from his fever. I punched in the numbers to my Uncle's cellphone. _Please don't be working across town today. _I heard on the other line, "Hello? Alice? Is that you?"

I shook my head and snapped back from my thoughts and said, "Yes. Uncle Fredrick, I need a huge favor." The sound of a TV was filling the other end of the phone. "Sure, Alice. What ya need?" I held the phone to my ear with my shoulder, and grabbed the quilt I was sleeping under and draped it over Shun's shivering shoulders. "Shun's really sick and he needs to go to the hospital.

I can't take him in mine because it was dropped off at the shop for a tune up and is still there, and Shun's doesn't have enough gas to make it to the hospital. And I want you to take him since you're a doctor and if he gets worse then you might know what to do."

The sound of an object falling on the floor meant he was in a rush now. "Don't worry. I'll be there in five minutes." I thanked him and he hung up. Shun's head was now hanging low, and his body was now shivering frantically. I didn't care if I got sick now, even if I was seeing what could be in store for me if I did catch whatever Shun had. I put my arm around Shun's shoulders, and he didn't even look up at me.

He only kept his eyes closed and his head held low. That immediately made me wish my Uncle would hurry up. The door swung open, and my Uncle found us sitting in the hallway. He took one look at Shun and quickly ran to his side. "Help me get him into the car, Alice."

I didn't argue and helped get Shun to his feet and outside. We put him in the back seat, and I covered him up with the blanket. His head was laid against the window, and he seemed to of fallen asleep, but was still shaking. I sat in the front seat next to my Uncle, and he cranked up the car and sped down the driveway towards the hospital. I glanced back at Shun. _Just hang on a little bit longer._

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><p>omg i had so much frickin homeowrk to do. first i had to make an invention, which ended up being a solar powered tent. -.- then i had another report to do. Then i get distracted by the republican presidental canidate debate on fox news. so, busy busy day. and it's almost over. i dont wanna go back to school tomorrow! DX well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	8. Forever Now

_Shun_

Whatever I was laying on, didn't feel like anything in the house. My hand slid across something thin and smooth, something that felt like fabric. _Linen perhaps?_ I slowly opened my eyes, to find myself in a small white room, with all kinds of wires and machines hooked up to me. I immediately began to panic, trying to figure out how I got from the house to this place. I never noticed Alice walk into the room till I heard her say, "Shun! Oh my god, you're awake!"

She embraced me in a hug, and I asked her franticly, "Alice? Where am I? What happened?" She put some distance between us and said flatly, "You don't remember anything?" I stared at her, letting her see the bewildered expression in my face. "No. Last thing I remember was going back to sleep after you came and checked in on me last night." Her eyes were burning holes into me, and it felt like I was some lost species long thought to be extinct.

"Shun, that was three days ago." I shook my head, trying to see if I misunderstood what she said. "Three days?" She nodded her head, and that was when I really got a good look at her. She looked super stressed out, and as if she might of not gotten any sleep for a while. "You've been asleep for three days. My Uncle and I rushed you to the hospital when you could barely walk."

It was weird. Days, hours, minutes, and seconds I didn't remember, that I couldn't ever get back. I said to her, "What exactly happened to me, Alice?" She cleared her throat, and spoke, "Well, you stumbled into the hallway, and looked like you didn't have a clue where you were at. So I called my Uncle and made him drive you up to the hospital….." I went deep into my thoughts, and the memory of being rushed here rushed back to me.

I remembered everything looked hazy and faded, almost like the whole world was in a fog. I wasn't able to get words to escaped out of my mouth, and I was too weak to lift my arms. Then the vision of Alice and her Uncle returned to me, and how they basically dragged me out to his car, and sped down the road to get me medical attention. The lights of the hospital's ceiling blinded my already blurry vision, and the sound of people calling out for help.

And that was it. Everything else was black after that. It was a scary feeling. That I was that ill, that I don't know what was said or done, that it was almost like I wasn't ever here for those three days. I shudder coursed through my body at those thoughts. Alice was still talking, but stopped when she saw I wasn't showing any interest. "Shun? Are you listening?" I snapped out of my little world, and looked at her. "Uh, no. Sorry. I was just thinking. So, what was wrong with me exactly?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head side to side. "They don't know. All I know is that they starting putting some super strong antibiotics into you and worked like hell to get your fever down. They took some tests once your fever broke, which was like five hours after we brought you here, but then you didn't wake up. The doctor thought the fever might of done some damage to you, and said we wouldn't know until you woke up…..Shun….Don't ever scare me like that again."

She held her head low, and I couldn't see her eyes, but I did see a tear roll down her cheek, and leave a little wet spot on the sheets. "Alice, don't cry. Everything's ok now." She looked up at me, with a slight smile on her face, and whisked away another tear that was about to roll down her face.

"I know, Shun. I'm just happy you finally woke up." Reality then slapped me in my face, and I realized the chain reaction me not waking would of cause. If I never woke up, Alice would be alone, and I'd never get to see our baby be born, or anything like that. My whole future would of ceased to exist. A tall man in a lab coat walked into the room, and nearly dropped his chart when he saw me sitting up and talking to Alice.

"Nurse! Get in here! The patient has woken up!" He ran out into the hallway, repeating what he had previously said. He returned back into the room, with a short brunette nurse behind him. Alice looked at me and said, "Shun, this is the doctor the hospital assigned to you."

He held out his hand, and I took it and returned his grip. "Your motor skills seem to be good. Looks like the fever didn't damage that. Oh, my apologies. I'm Dr. Ross. I was in the emergency room when your girlfriend and her Uncle brought you here. You gave everybody a pretty big scare down there."

I didn't say anything, but only looked over the guy. He didn't seem like the doctor type. He was too well groomed to be somebody who enjoyed being around sick and injured people all the time. The nurse on the other hand, was just the opposite. Her flat hair was tied in a ponytail to hide all the constant hours of running back and forth for patients. Alice brought her hands up to her chest and clapped them together. "Did the tests say what was wrong with him?" The doctor reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a pair of reading glasses, and with them on, he looked like a science professor at a college.

He held his eyes down to the chart, and flipped a few pages till he finally got to me. He let the papers fall back down, and he shook his head. "I'm afraid not. All the tests showed was that he was a little dehydrated. But with that fever he had, that wasn't too shocking. We don't even know if this could reoccur again." All eyes were on me. I was some specimen for this guy to dissect in his lab of mad science. The man turned to the nurse and told her to leave the room. _This is usually the part of the questions where it stays between the patient and their family, but eventually ends up on some TV show ten years from now._

He closed the door and took in a breath and said, "Don't think I'm accusing you of anything, but this is always something that's needed information." Me and Alice were both puzzled. He pulled up a chair and sat down a few feet from my bed. "Have you ever done any kind of drugs?"

Alice let out a short gasp and said, "Shun would never do something stupid like that!" The doctor put his hands up in defense and said calmly, "Like I said, don't think I'm accusing him of anything. It's just hospital protocol if we can't figure out the diagnosis of an ill patient. A yes or no is acceptable." Alice shook her head and told him, "Well, Shun hasn't done anything like that, so you're wasting your time, right Shun?" I couldn't get any words out of my mouth before the doctor chimed in and said, "Well, I need an answer from him. Have you?"

Alice said something under her breath, and the doctor heard it, but ignored her. I bit my lip and told him, "I did once or twice a few years back." Alice nearly fell off the side of the bed. "What! Shun, how could you do something so stupid!" I had never really heard Alice yell before, but I put it on my list of don't do again.

"I tried some different kinds at one point a few years back, and realized it wasn't my thing, but then again I was kind of around the wrong crowd of people too." The man nodded his head and scribbled something down on my chart. "Do you think that had anything to do with why I was sick?"

He shook his head and told me, "When you said you were around the wrong crowd of people, then odds are you were exposed the basic drugs kids your age normally are. And they're nothing that would cause you to get as sick as you were a few days ago. We're just going to have to run a few more tests and hope we find what's wrong, and stop it from ever happening again." He left the room, putting the chair back where he got it from. Alice looked at me directly in my eyes and said, "I still can't believe you did something like that."

I sighed and told her, "I was stupid at one point in my life, most people are. And trust me, anyone that looks at my background would normally predict I'd be doing a lot worse than smoking once or twice." She sighed and shook her head. "Well, I guess all that matters is that you didn't get hooked or anything like that.

And it also didn't have anything to do with you being sick." I smiled at her and said, "That's the way to look at it. Live in the now. Not the past." She leaned against me. Three days without being able to be close to her, would of felt like an eternity if I was awake. She covered her mouth and yawned.

"How much sleep have you gotten since I've been in here?" Her big, brown eyes found my face and said, "None. Maybe ten minutes at one point, but other than that, none whatsoever." I never thought about the idea that she was probably so racked with stress about me, that she hadn't gotten any sleep. I pulled her closer to me and said, "Well, now I'm awake, so you don't have to stay awake for me."

She smiled at me, and a glint shone in her eye. Gratefulness? Relief? I couldn't identify it. She nodded her head and walked over to the hospital's couch, that for once wasn't some cheap faux, green leather furniture. It was an actual couch. She laid down, not bothering to find a blanket, and rested her head on a spare pillow.

"I can finally sleep on this thing instead of sitting on it wondering if you were okay." Her eyes drifted close, and soon her breathing was slow and syncopated. I, on the other hand, had had enough sleep for a while.

* * *

><p>THIS PLACE ABOUT TO BLOOOOOW! XP lol. just sitting here listening to my itunes when ke$ha's blow comes on. lol. XP thanks to everyone for the positive reviews so far. you guys are epic! check out my profile for new polls concerning the story. this one is going to be a little bit more interactive than Broken Bones. well, send more of them positive reviews my way, add the story to your favs, and other things. XP you guys are the best! ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	9. Your Eyes Tell Me Everything You Hide

_Alice_

Relief flooded over me. Relief that Shun was finally awake now, and that I could get the first bit of sleep I'd had in three days. I hadn't gotten an ounce of rest because I was too afraid to go to sleep. Afraid that I'd wake up, and Shun wouldn't. I wouldn't of been able to live with myself if that happened.

Now I could rest without guilt gnawing at me. I didn't know if Shun was awake or asleep right then or not. I doubted it, since he had slept for three days straight. I felt a spring in the couch poke into my side, and I moved over to escape it. I was in that state of being awake, and asleep. I seemed to be in that state a lot now these days. My ears picked up the faint sound of the IV they had hooked up to Shun.

It was a short staccato beep, the kind that would eventually get on your nerves, but not mine. The sound was actually making me drift away into a deep slumber. Repetitive sounds always seemed to do this to me, considering they weren't too loud and worrisome. My mind then forced me to wake from my sleep, and I opened my eyes and saw a dim light filtering into the room from the window's curtains. The couch wasn't under the window, instead, it was across from it against the wall. So, tidbits of lights made its way around the curtains, and shone right on my face. I sat up on my elbows, shielding my eyes with my hand, and looked around.

Shun had somehow fallen asleep. I shook my head in disbelief. Sirens then sounded throughout the outside world. I stood up, my bare feet touching the cold tile floor, and walked over to the window. I moved the curtains to the side, and the golden light of dawn's sunrise blinded me. Squinting my eyes shut, they slowly adjusted, and I was able to see everything.

Cars pulling into the parking lot, and nurses and doctors would climb out to report to work. An ambulance drove past the street, lights flashing and lights blaring, signaling somebody was in need of help. I hoped the person, or people, they were going after were ok. Without the streets flooded with traffic like they normally were, the world almost seemed like the only ones in it were me and Shun.

The only thing that reminded me that we weren't was seeing somebody walking in the parking lot either to or from their cars. I bent over and leaned on my elbows that I placed on the windowsill. The marble looking windowsill started hurting my elbows, so I eased the pressure I was putting on them. There was a short little ding, and another followed a few seconds after that one.

I turned to find the source, and saw my phone had received a text. I quickly turned it on silent so it wouldn't wake Shun. Viewing the text, I saw it was sent from Runo. I then realized I hadn't told them about Shun. I read the message. _Hey, Alice. We hadn't heard from you or Shun in a few days. We were all just checking in and seeing if everything was ok._ They deserved to know about Shun, whether he wanted them to or not.

I hit the reply button. _Hi, Runo. Sorry I haven't talked to you guys lately. Things have been really hectic the past few days because Shun's been sick._ Runo quickly replied back, and just from reading her text, I knew she was shocked. _What? Shun's sick? What's wrong with him? Is he doing better?_ I began typing my answer to her answers, and I heard the sheets under Shun sigh as he moved into a new position.

_Yeah. We don't know what was wrong with him. My Uncle and I rushed him to the hospital four days ago. He just woke up yesterday. So, that's a good sign in my book._ My phone flashed up and icon saying the sending was successful, and I closed my phone, and returned to looking out the window while Runo was texting me back. I knew she was telling Dan and the others right now, so she should take a minute to respond.

One of those little birds that usually hang around Wal-mart parking lots, landed right in front of me on the other side of the window. It mustn't of seen me, or of been paying any mind to me. I giggled as the little avian creature hopped around on its tiny stick like legs, and titled its head back and forth as it fixed its eyes on something. I followed its gaze and saw a spider web on the upper corner of the window, and in the center was the spider.

I was happy that thing was on the outside, and shuddered at the eight-legged creature. The little bird opened its wings and jumped up to the spider's web, and flew off. The web was left destroyed, and flowing in the breeze like a ghost. I blinked a few times, trying to process how quickly that had happened. "What are you staring at that's so interesting?" I jumped and turned around to see Shun sitting up, and scratching his nappy bed head.

I laughed nervously and said, "Just watching spiders get eaten by birds." He yawned and told me, "That doesn't sound like 'Ms. I love all the living creatures' to me." I glared at him and said, "Well, cross spiders off of my list. How ya feeling today?" I placed a and on his cheek. It wasn't warm, meaning his fever was gone for the time being.

"I'm feeling better than yesterday, and WAY better than I felt when you brought me here." I remembered my phone, and checked for a new message, which I had received while I was watching the bird. _He was asleep for three days! How sick is he! Wait, don't answer that. Me and the others are gunna come and visit you two sometime this afternoon. Could you give us the hospital, floor, and room number he's on?_

I sent her the information she requested and told her I had to go. This was time I wanted to be with just me and Shun, before any doctors, nurses, or friends showed up to disrupt. "I don't see how I fell asleep last night. I thought I'd be wide awake." I agreed with him and said, "I didn't get the best sleep, but it was more than what I had gotten the past few days." Shun motioned with his chin for me to come over there next to him.

I didn't hesitate and he scooted over to the side of the hospital bed, allowing me room to lay next to him. I curled against him, allowing his heartbeat to lull me into a calm state. I heard his voice ask me, "They're probably gunna ask me a lot of questions now that I'm awake. And run even more fun tests. Aren't they?" He rubbed my belly slowly with the back of his index and middle finger.

"Probably. They asked me lots of questions when we brought you here. Like, your blood type, any previous illnesses, and other random things like that. I realized then that I don't know everything about you like I thought I did." When he chuckled, his chest moved with the rhythm of it, making me move. I smiled, unawake if he knew I was or not. "Were you scared?" I felt his eyes fall on me, but I didn't look back.

"Scared of what?" I stared down at the foot of the hospital bed. "Of never waking up." He was silent. I knew he was thinking of his answer. That's what Shun did when he thought, he was silent. "I'm not sure. I mean, it's a scary thought. Never waking up that is. But, I don't remember what was going on through my mind while I was out, and even after I woke up and the reality of everything occurred to me, I still wasn't really scared. Worried about everything that might of happened if I didn't, yeah. But I wasn't scared."

_How could somebody not be afraid of death? That's basically what Shun stared in the face, and he wasn't even phased by it. Maybe shaken up, but he's acting like nothing serious happened. Perhaps he's putting on an act to make me not worry, or to prove that he's strong or something._ I looked up at his eyes. The amber orbs were shining back at me, and a smiled crossed his face. _Maybe he's not as strong as he's made himself out to be._

_Shun_

They ran a gazillion fun tests on me later that day. They had to fight me to get a blood sample, and they stuck every tool they had around my head. They had told me it was to see if the fever did any damage to me, which turns out, my eyesight was slightly hurt. I couldn't see as far as I used to, so that meant my days of accurately jumping from one object to another was over.

I even looked at them in a small mirror that had been tucked away in a drawer. There was a tiny little gray dot in the center of my eye, that you had to get face to face to me to be able to clearly see it. Lucky me though, they weren't hurt enough that I'd need any surgery or glasses or anything like that. Everything else checked out fine. My hearing was still fine, as were my motor skills, and I was told my memory of what happened would probably slowly return to me over time. I doubted it though, I mean, I was out cold.

It's not like I was conscious of what the hell was going on around me. But hey, stranger things have happened, right? Alice was downstairs in the lobby of the hospital trying to find the cafeteria. Poor girl had barely eaten while I was absent in my body. The nurses had basically forced her to eat, and when she did, it wasn't much. Now that she wasn't stressing out over everything, she had her appetite back. I was hungry myself, and while I was out, they had hooked up some kind of meds to me so I wouldn't die from starvation.

I didn't get how that worked, since I wasn't eating. I mean, didn't you have to have food to not starve? I smiled and shook my head. I would never understand doctors. My smile then slowly went away. _Were you scared?_ I picked at a loose string on the sheets. _Was I? This isn't something that happens everyday, is it?_ I didn't have an answer, and because of that, I had the empty feeling of not knowing. Like when one contemplates the unknown questions in life and in the universe. They lead to another, and another, and another.

Then you grow hungry with the wanting of knowledge. A nurse walked into my room, stopping my great philosophical thoughts, and changed out my IV bag without so much as a hello. I rolled my eyes once she left. _I swear, some people._ I didn't mean to sound like some kind of prissy drama queen, but you'd think they'd make the nurses be nicer to their patients. I mean, it wasn't exactly a five star resort in this tiny room where you were stuck in the bed all the time.

Alice then walked in the room, and was followed by a train of our friends. Julie ran over to the side of my bed and wrapped me in a hug and squealed, "Shun! Oh my gosh! We were so worried when Runo told us you were sick!" I tried to pry the girl's arms from my neck so I could breathe. "Julie…..Let go…" She released my neck and apologized for nearly making me black out. I held my throat, and took in deep breaths.

"Hey guys…..What are you doing here?" Dan closed his eyes and flicked his nose with his thumb, and gave a cheesy smile. "Visiting you in the hospital. Duh. Alice had texted Runo saying you were pretty sick, so we decided to pay you a visit." I looked at Alice, and hoped she was getting the message my eyes were directing to her, _"Why the hell did you tell them?" _She inched her way behind Murucho, as if I didn't notice. I rolled my eyes and said, "Thanks guys, that means a lot that you care. But you didn't have to come all the way out here just to see me." Julie waved her hand and said, "Oh don't be silly, Shun. Your our friend."

Murucho chimed in and said, "Not to mention a Battle Brawler. That automatically means we all stick together for each other." _There he goes with his corny and super sappy friendship speech._ All the sweetness in the room made me want to theoretically puke. This was another reason I couldn't bare to be around them at times.

Everything was bond this, and friendship that. _Yeah, we get it. We're all friends here._ I sighed and knew I'd have to suck it up, and grin and bare it. Runo and Dan were yelling at each other, again. And Murucho was standing between them telling them to keep their voices down so they wouldn't get thrown out of the hospital. _Please keep yelling._ It was growing dark outside now, and Murucho checked the time.

"Well, we have to get going. We all hope you get better Shun." I'll admit, Murucho was pretty cool, he just needed to catch a whiff of reality once and a while. He also was like the little brother none of us had. Alice shut the door behind them and said, "Oh, did I mention that Dan and the others were coming today?"

I glared at her and said, "No. It never once was mentioned to me." She smiled nervously and I rolled my eyes, and was then attacked by the orange haired girl. I nearly fell off the bed because the railing wasn't up, and I then understood why they put them there.

She locked her lips with mine, and I returned the favor. When we broke, she asked me, "Does that make up for it?" I smiled and said, "I'll have to think about it." She kissed me again. My head was feeling light, and I told her, "Now, I forgive you." We both sat there laughing, carefree of what others or the rest of the world thought of us. We were happy, as long as we had each other.

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><p>been a music fest while i was writing this chapter. Blood On The Dancefloor, Tokio Hotel, Skillet, Katy Perry, Story Of The Year, Ke$ha, etc. I think i went through my entire library. XP i also think this is the LONGEST chapter i have writen so far. o.O i lost complete track of time. six pages according to Word. o.o BABY YOU'RE A FIREWOOOOOORK! random much? why yes i am. lol. XP well, i think that's it for till tomorrow. remember to check out the poll if you havent yet. It tells me if I'm doing good so far. well, read, review, and other grand things! ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	10. Going Into War With Your Inner Demons

_Alice_

We were bored. Extremely bored. Shun had snuck an orange from his dinner, and was now throwing it up in the air, and catching it for his amusement. I, on the other hand, was doing something constructive and was sitting reading a newspaper they brought into the room that morning. I read the headlines and shook my head. "Looks like all the crime is slowly creeping over on our side of town. Won't be long till it's no different than the part of the city they've destroyed."

Shun was half-ass listening to me, and kept his focus on the orange spinning above his head. I cleared my throat, and Shun looked over at me, his eyes completely lost, and his forgotten orange fell down and got him right on top of his head. He looked around, as if expecting somebody to be standing behind him, then he found the orange and tried to play it off. I grinned and shook my head.

"You're a handful. You know that?" He rolled his eyes and started throwing the orange again. I snuck a glance at his eyes. Even though I couldn't see it, I knew there was something he was hiding behind them. I had seen a glint of it yesterday when I asked him if he was scared.

"Shun, you don't have to answer this but, how much bad stuff has happened to you?" He caught the citrus fruit, and stared up at it. He placed it back on the little table next to the bed, and didn't even look at me. It seemed like he wasn't even looking at anything. "A lot. Let's just leave it at that."

He rolled over on his side, his back facing me. "I guess I'll turn out the lights and go to bed too. Night." He didn't stir. I sighed and folded the newspaper closed, and placed it next to the orange on the table. Reaching for the light switch in the same motion. I hadn't meant to strike a nerve in Shun, but I thought I had a right to know a little bit more about his past other than his mother's death. _Maybe I was poking around too deep._

_Shun_

She wanted to know more about my past. Every knew the story about my mother getting sick, and the only person who knew a little bit more about my life was Dan, but even he didn't know everything. I never liked thinking back to my past. It wasn't as grand as many thought. There was tons of pain and emotional stress. I closed my eyes and breathed in.

_*Flashback*_

_I ran off into the streets. Far away from my mother's apartment. Far away from him. Far away from everything. I was only eight at the time, my mother was still in the hospital, and that seemed to give him permission to think he was in charge. I hightailed it into the park and sat behind a bush, putting my hand on the throbbing mark on my face. I peer out from the leaves, and there he was. His dark figure searching around for me. "Shun! Where are you!" _

_I shrunk back into the darkness of the bush when he cupped his hands around his mouth to call for me. My eyes fell on his right hand. The one that was the reason my face hurt. I growled at him, and he turned to face my direction. Fear rushed over me, a fear I had never felt before. I scrambled back further into the darkness, panicking that he heard me._

_ He then walked off down the street, calling my name. He had no right to call it. I knew there wasn't much I could do, being how young and weak I was. My mind hoped that karma would turn around, and give him my revenge. And karma did just that. I saw him cross the street, and suddenly the headlights of a truck flicked on, and he was caught right in their path. The vehicle screeched to a halt, making me cover my ears at the sound. _

_The driver was freaking out, while I remained calm behind the safety of the darkness. The driver, dialed 911, and soon police and medics flooded the streets. The lights flashed reds and blues, changing the color of the buildings from black to their normal daytime color. I edged closer to the outside of the bush, and stepped on a stick, causing it to break. _

_One of the officers, turned and looked right at me. I panicked, and shot out from the back and further into the park. I heard him yell at me to stop, but I didn't. I needed to get away from there. I remembered Dan's house was just down the street at that time. And that's where I headed for, thinking over my story._

_ I ran up the steps and knocked on the door. His mom answered the door. At that time, I envied him. He had a mother that wasn't at a hospital all the time for tests, and a father that wasn't shameful in his eyes. She gasped when she saw me. I didn't know what my face was telling her. It could have been fear, relief, or maybe she saw the mark on my face if it was still there. "Shun? What are you doing out here?" _

_I didn't want them to know what just happened, so I lied. "I had gotten locked out of the apartment, and my father went to his job and took the key with him. And you know about my mom." It was a little kid lie, but she bought it and allowed me inside. I had said it with the most serious face, and with barely any emotion. She fixed me a place on the couch, and I climbed in. I felt safe now. Away from him, away from those cops, away from the world. My eyes closed, and I fell into a peaceful sleep._

_*End Flashback*_

Alice was asleep, I was on my back staring up at the ceiling. That day was like my independence day, despite seeing death right in front of me. A life taken away in the matter of split seconds. Then again, in my mind, he never deserved that life that was given to him. I didn't care if that made me a bad person.

For somebody that wasn't really ever there, and who couldn't control his anger, that made him the bad person. I had times when I wondered, what would of happened if he didn't hit me that night? What if he just came home and laid down on the couch and never bothered me? He'd probably wouldn't of gotten killed that same night for starters. _Funny how things work out._

My whole life seemed to of been filled with ironic crap like that, but it never really happened to me, only to those around me. That was why I kept myself away from the people I really did care about. A white light caught the corner of my eye. The moon had finally risen over the treetops, and it was full and bright. The moon had always made me feel safe too.

Especially on those nights when I'd sit out in the storage room at the dojo, looking out the window up at it, as if all my problems would be washed away by the light. But no matter how hard I tried, people around me always got the short end of the stick. It almost felt like a curse to me.

I looked at Alice's sleeping body. _Prime example one._ I did love her, more than anything in the world, but I couldn't always help but think maybe there was somebody better out there for her. I sighed, and returned to the moon. _I wonder….If I keep walking towards it…..If I'll find a paradise…..away from everything….._

_Alice_

Constant beeping woke me up. My eyes followed the sound to the bed, which was empty. I sat up quickly looking around for Shun. He had apparently pulled out the IV's from his arm, causing the machine to send out an alarm that they weren't doing their job.

I checked everywhere in the room, nothing. Panic set in, and I ran to the nurses station, which for the first night since I had been here with Shun, was now empty. _You're kidding me!_ I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling as if I could pull it out. I ran down every hall on the floor, hoping to maybe find him. He could have been anywhere in the hospital, or outside it for that fact.

_Shun_

My arm stung from where I ripped the IV out, and the rag I had grabbed from the bathroom had a nice sized spot of blood on it. I had escaped from the room, and found a way onto the roof above the awning where the ambulances dropped patients off. There were huge machines making humming noises, and I assumed they went to the air conditioners. A breeze hit my face, making my hair blow behind me.

My eyes caught a small plastic table with the benches built it. _I guess workers use this as an escape too. _I sat down, facing in the direction of the wind. It was a beautiful night, the sky wasn't black, but a dark blue, painted with stars. I folded my hands into each other and put them in front of me on the cold plastic table. I closed my eyes and inhaled the night air. A faint little noise caught my attention.

"Shun! Shun! Are you out here?" I got up and walked over to the edge on the roof, and saw Alice walking around the parking lot, looking for me. I should of called out to her, to calm her racing thoughts, but I didn't. I only watched her search the parking lot frantically for me. It was like a game of cat and mouse, and I was the mouse hiding, and winning. While she was the confused cat hunting for me, and loosing. She then whirled around and saw me looking down on her.

_Alice_

I found him. His amber eyes were focused on me, like the eyes of a fierce predator. And they had the feeling to match. The feeling of being stalked by something much stronger, and deadly than yourself. I whispered under my breath, "Shun." He didn't respond to me, and I realized he didn't respond to any of my cries for him to tell me where he was.

That made a little bit of anger swell up inside me. "Shun! Don't make me worry like that again! Why didn't you tell me you were up there!" His eyes stayed focused on me, and I expected him to lunge down from the roof at me. He tilted his head to the side, like this was some kind of warped game of hide and seek.

"Did you hear me! Why didn't you respond!" A sly grin slapped across his face, and he perched himself up on the side of the roof, and he jumped off, landing almost catlike on his feet. Not missing a single beat. He stood up from his crouching position, and all that I could identify were his eyes, which seemed to glow in the shadows.

They vanished every time his eyes blinked, and when they reopened, I remembered he was standing there. "Do you think this is some kind of game, Shun?" He stepped out from the cover of the shadows, and my breath was taken away. In the moonlight, he looked much older, wiser, and even deadly.

When we were sitting in the dark at the fountain a while back, I didn't see any of this in him. It was almost like he was somebody completely different. "Depends on your definition of a game." I narrowed my eyes and at him and approached him. My body was working over time and producing tons of adrenaline as I got near him. I don't know if it was my aggravation towards him, or just him.

I raised my hand for some reason, and swung it towards his face. It stopped a few centimeters from it, and I registered what was happening. My hand was about to slap him, and without him taking his eyes from me, he had stopped me in the matter of pure seconds. "Now why would you wanna do something like that?" His voice was smooth, and seemed to have something like a playful tone behind it, almost like he was teasing me to make another move.

_I think he really does think this is a game. And he thinks I'm playing along._ He forced my arm down, and took advantage of my reaction and grabbed my other hand, then placed his lips on mine. They were fierce and starved. He backed away from my face, and stared at me with his sharp amber eyes.

Then he fell forward, and I caught him. "Shun!" I was kneeling on my knees, and propping him up. "Shun, stand up. We need to get you back inside and hooked up to those IV's again. That's probably what's wrong with you." He wobbled as I helped him to his feet. I heard him say under his breath, "Sorry, if I've caused you any grief."

* * *

><p>beh. not a good day for me at all. -.- our band directors decided to forget our water on the HOTTEST day we've marched all week! -.- so now im a little crispy. beh. well, you know the drill. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	11. Silverlining

_Alice_

Shun was out cold, but his body was tossing and turning as he slept. I had rushed him back into the hospital after he collapsed again, and luckily found a nurse that just began her shift. She helped me get him back to his room, and hooked a new IV into his arm. Almost immediately, Shun began to look better.

When the doctor arrived later that morning, I quickly told him what happened that night. From what we could piece together was, whatever had made Shun ill, only went into hiding when the antibiotics were given to him through the IV, but after a while of being off of them, he would start showing symptoms again. The doctor sat his chart down and said, "Seems like until we figure out what's going on with him, he'll have to stay on those antibiotics. Hopefully we can get a sure diagnosis and start him on a treatment."

I nodded my head, and he left. Shun made a noise, and I turned around to look at him. His eyes slightly opened and blinked, then found me. I didn't have anything to say though. It was his fault that he collapsed out there cause he was stupid enough to rip the IV out. But then again, if he didn't do that we wouldn't of learned that under the medicine, he was still sick. I pulled up one of the chairs and sat down next to the bed.

Shun's eyes turned away from me and he said softly, "That was a stupid-ass thing I did last night. I don't blame you if you're pissed at me. I shouldn't of made you worry like that."

I reached over and stroked his messy black hair with my hand. "Yes, it was stupid what you did, but I'm not mad. In a way, what you did helped us figure out that the meds were only keeping this thing at bay. Besides, the doctor said you were probably acting strange cause your fever was slowly coming back, so you didn't have much knowledge and control of what you were doing."

His chest heaved as he sighed, and my fingers were still running through his hair. Usually he hated when I did this, but he didn't argue or put up a fight. Taking one of the locks, I twirled it around my finger and let it fall off. I did this over and over again, using it as a means to calm myself like some people do with worry stones or stress balls.

Shun must of sensed that was what I was doing, so he didn't want to stop me. "You said you wanted to know about some of the bad stuff that happened to me." I was caught off guard at his statement, and pulled my fingers away from his hair and placed my hands in my lap.

"Well, yeah. But I understand if you don't want to tell me. I was nosing around too much yesterday about that." He turned and faced me and asked, "Do you still want to know?" I blinked with Shun's suddenness. "Well, of course. But like I said, if you don't want to, you don't have to. I was just wanting to know more about your past." I saw he was chewing on the inside of his lip, something that both of us did when it was one of those almost insanely awkward conversations.

"I want to tell you. I'm tired of keeping everything that's happened to me bottled up from everyone." I nodded my head, and he took in a deep breath and he started telling me about his father, and how he had actually watched him get hit by a car and die, then he listed a few more things. I was dumbfounded by how anybody could have the will to go on after everything that had happened to him.

_Shun_

I never really noticed how long of a list my life was. Even I was wondering when everything was going to end, but it felt good to open up. Almost like a heavy weight was lifted from my shoulders, allowing me to breathe for the first time in my life. Alice was listening to me speak, and she looked like she was reading a heavy drama story, and acted as if this wasn't a possible reality.

But it was. It was _mine._ I told her everything I could remember, starting with the truth about my father. Not even Dan knew about him. I always told everybody that he was some super busy business worker that worked almost all year long, and of course they bought it. When I finally finished spilling everything, I felt as though I might float up to the ceiling. I was even holding onto the sheets on the hospital bed. Alice's hand was covering her lips, and she said behind them, "Shun, I'm so sorry all that happened to you. I don't get how you had it in you to just get up and walk out of your house."

She was right. There were some days that I would pretend to be sick, so I wouldn't have to go to school, or train. It was usually on days that something had happened on. I felt a lump in my throat when I swallowed, and I reached for my glass of water to try and wash it down. Some of that stuff was hard to talk about. It was mainly things that I pushed way in the back of my mind, and didn't even bother remembering every year.

Alice was short for words, so I spoke for her. "Now you know everything I remember. Or at least, want to remember." She then hugged me around my shoulders. It was sudden, so I didn't hug her back because I didn't even realize it was her for a minute. She was still wrapped around me, and I smiled and actually began to laugh. She looked at me like I had finally flipped and asked, "Why are you laughing, Shun?" I shook my head, still laughing and smiling. "I don't really know, but it feels good."

She couldn't help but smile as well and start laughing. Mt doctor then walked into the room, a smile plastered on his face. Alice turned to him and said, "Oh, hi Dr. Ross. Good news?" He placed my chart down and said, "Very good news. We figured out what's wrong with him."

Alice's eyes lit up and she turned around and took my hands in hers. I was excited myself with the thought of finally getting well and going home. He found a chair placed in the corner of the room and sat in it. Alice and I stayed focused on what he was about to say. "Our tests showed that the reason you were sick was that you had several viruses attacking your immune system, and the reason for that is, your immune system has a pretty big gap in it. Why, we aren't sure, but with some basic over the counter vitamins and immunity supplements, you'll be good to go."

Alice and I both sighed, relieved that it wasn't something major and was treatable. She thanked him and he said he'd be right back with my new treatment. I wished I knew why there was a gap in my immune system, but as long as it could be treated and I wouldn't get as sick as I did again, I was ok with it.

Alice looked most relieved though. She couldn't contain her excitement and got out her phone to tell Dan and the others that I would be ok. I felt as though I should have been doing something myself, but couldn't find anything. Alice was typing in somebody's number, and mouthed to me that she was stepping outside to take the call. The whole fact that several illnesses were running rampant in my body shocked me.

I thought about other diseases that could of gotten to me, and realized how lucky I was we found the answer when we did. Dr. Ross returned to my room, a small cup with several pills in it. "Here, you'll have to be on these for a while, even after you leave the hospital. We don't know how long you may have to take them. Could be months or years, but they'll slowly start strengthening your immunity." I thanked him and took the meds. One of them had a weird taste to it.

"Hey, wait. Aren't they gunna take my IV out since I probably won't be needing the antibiotics now?" I truly wanted that thing out of my arm. He smiled, a piece of his usually neatly groomed hair fell out of place. "Well, until you start taking those pills regularly, we don't want to take any chances. Once you're to a point where you don't get sick the minute you're off of them, then you can have it removed."

I nodded my head in an understanding, and he left out of the room for the night. Alice skipped back inside, phone clutched in her hands. "Everyone knows now and they are so relieved to know you're ok." I smiled. She seemed like the only one now still riding the excitement, while I had calmed down. _As long as she's happy, I'm happy. That's how it works._

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><p>i discovered that a Toledo is a city in Ohio. o.O sorry for late upload, had chores+homework+mind block=bad things. i dont know how much of that doctory stuff is that accurate (ironically enough i want to work as a forensic pathologist and need to learn this kinda stuff) so please forgive my inaccuracy. omg. contests are right around the corner. we are all so nervous! well, read, review, and other things. P.S. DONT EAT CANTELOUPE FROM JENSEN FARMS! OR TYSON BEEF! I'D LIKE IT ALL OF YOU ARE WELL SO YOU CAN KEEP READING AND POSTING! ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	12. Unknown Artists

_Shun_

This was the longest week and a half I had endured in my life. Constant treatments to get my immune system up, and get me out of this horrid place. But today I was finally getting out, and I was glad for it. I was sitting in the main lobby of the hospital with Alice, both of us waiting for her Uncle to pick us up in his car and take us home. "I'm happy to get out of this place." Alice was reading some magazine, unaware that I was speaking.

I rested my elbow on the armrest, then placed my chin in my palm and sighed. She still didn't hear me, so I sighed again, this time a little louder. Nothing. I decided to give up on grabbing her attention, and looked around the large lobby. There were paintings hung up on the walls by some artists that nobody has even heard of, and pictures of the months top employees.

I never understood why the majority of the time they were old. There were at least two younger people put up on the wall. A young woman and man, that oddly looked as if they were related to each other. I focused my eyes and saw that they were. _Well, that makes sense._ "Shun, come on. My Uncle is here." I shook myself mentally, and saw Alice waiting next to the automatic doors with her Uncle beside her. I stood up and walked over to them. Her Uncle patted me on my back and said, "Feeling better?"

I smiled and nodded. I really was feeling tons better. We both got into the car, and I sat in the back where I was when they rushed me to the hospital nearly three weeks ago. I saw there was a blanket on the floorboard. _Probably one Alice used to keep my warm._ I bent over and tossed it on the other side of the floor so my feet wouldn't be on top of it. Alice was asleep, resting her head against the window.

For some reason she didn't sleep well last night, and I knew she'd probably go and take a nap when we got home. She was, either right or about to be, two months along. I had actually lost track of it while in my stay at the hospital, but didn't want her to know. Because that would result with me getting an earful of words. Her Uncle pulled into the driveway and turned off the car.

The trip seemed to of gone by pretty quickly. He shook Alice's shoulder, and she sat up and yawned. We got out of the car, being escorted up to the door by her Uncle. We both turned to face him as he said, "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, Shun. I have to get going. See you two soon." We waved good-bye to him as he drove off. Alice reached into her purse, pulling out the key to the house.

The lights were all out, and the house was dark. There was also an odd smell lingering around. _It smells like…Cake?_ Once I finished that thought, the lights flashed on and Dan, Runo, Julie, and Murucho leaped out from behind the furniture, yelling, "Welcome back!" I looked at Alice and asked her, "You plan this?" She shook her head, just as shocked about their random appearance as I was. She asked them, "How did you guys get into the house?" Dan had a smile on his face, and said, "We found the key under the mat." He had his eyes closed, and was waving his hand around, like breaking and entering wasn't a bad thing. I looked back at Alice and said to her, "I told you we shouldn't have put a key under the mat."

She hit my arm and told me to shush it. Julie skipped up to us, and took our wrists and dragged us into the house. Runo shut the door behind us. The silver haired girl then said, "Come on you two. We didn't put this party together just to have you stand around in a doorway. It's a time to celebrate Shun's health." I shuddered at the overly perky tone in her voice. My sense of smell didn't betray me, because sitting on the kitchen counter was a small cake with white icing, and probably had something written on it.

A pop then echoed through the house, and Alice and I were then rained on by one of those little pop confetti things. And Julie was on the other end of it. We both pulled the thin paper strips out of our hair so we didn't look like rainbows threw up on us. Julie then herded the two of us into the kitchen. I was correct about the cake having words on it. Written in green icing was _"Welcome Back!"_

The icing was starting to bleed into the white icing under it, giving it a distorted look. I was never one to be big on sweets, so if anything, Dan would end up eating the majority of it. After an hour or so, only a few slices were left, and Dan was laid up on the couch, patting his belly. Murucho and the others were sitting around him. Alice and I sat on the love seat, and Murucho was on a chair across from us.

"I don't know if you guys are aware of this, but we're heading back to Bay City tomorrow. That was another reason we decided to throw this little party." Alice started telling Runo and Julie how much she'd miss them, and how happy she was that they were able to come and visit a few times during their stay. Murucho then looked at his watch and said, "It's getting late, and we need to be heading back to the cabin to start packing for the flight back. It was great seeing you guys, and we hope everything goes well for you two."

He did a little bow when he stood up, and we bowed back. Murucho did always have good manners. Julie began to whine about leaving, and Runo pulled Dan off of our couch and made him stand on his feet. I folded my arms over my chest and shook my head. I told him, "Bye, Dan."

He realized he was being addressed to, and waved to me saying, "See ya around, bud!" I closed the door behind him as they left out, and made a mental note in my mind to move that key later. I turned around to see Alice laying were Dan was a few minutes ago. _Poor thing. She's got to be dog tired after all this._

I didn't know if she was awake, but I didn't take any chances as I silently went and picked up the trash that was left on the coffee table in the living room. Next up was the kitchen. It wasn't as big of a mess though. I closed the leftover cake up in its container, and put it in the fridge. As I walked back into the living room, Alice was still on the couch. _She's asleep. _I found the quilt we always kept draped over the back of the love seat, and then unfolded it and covered her with it.

She only moved a little as the quilt fell on her. I quietly leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of her head. A small smile appeared on her face, as did mine. I turned out any lights that were on, and then walked towards our room. I sat down on the bed, and laid back. As much as I wished Alice was in here next to me instead of the living room, I knew how exhausted she was.

The bed felt way better than that bed in the hospital. The familiar spot where I slept hugged my body. Although the scent of Alice had almost vanished from her lack of sleeping on her side for a long time. She never left the hospital during my stay there. She slept in the room with me, and made sure nothing else went wrong.

Even the minute my IV ran dry, she rushed to the nurses' station to get somebody to give me a new one. Most people would think of that as being too paranoid, but I understood her reasons for worrying. The house was dead silent, and I could hear an owl singing in the night next to the window. I started falling victim to the owl's nighttime lullaby, and began to dream of a perfect world for me and Alice.

_Alice_

I wasn't on the couch in the hospital, and I wasn't in my bed. I opened my eyes and raised my head, seeing I was laid out on the couch in the living room. I had been covered up with the quilt sometime while I was out. _Shun. It has to be._

I also noticed that all the plates and cups from the party had been picked up, and the coffee table wiped clean. I smiled. It was really thoughtful that Shun took care of all of the trash so I didn't have to. _I wonder where he is anyway…_ I threw the quilt off of me, and folded it back up and placed it on the back of the love seat like it had originally been. I had an idea where the raven haired ninja was, and I was correct.

He was sleeping in the bed of our room. One of his hands was hanging off the side, and I giggled quietly. Tip toeing into the room, I stood next to him and smiled. His hair was covering his face, and a few stray hairs were stuck to the pillow under his head. His body then twitched and turned over onto its side. The sudden movement startled me. I decided to step into the bathroom and clean up some while he was sleeping.

_Shun_

The sound of running water woke me up. I saw the bathroom door was shut, and light was shining under the door. "Alice." As I sat up, my body popped from not moving for however long I was sleeping. The water stopped running, and Alice soon stepped outside with a purple bathrobe on, and a towel in her hands drying off her hair.

"Oh, Shun. You're awake." She bent over and tied her hair up into the towel, then straightened back up. I chuckled. With her hair wrapped in the towel she looked completely different, but it was still the same old Alice. "What's so funny? Didn't you out your hair up in a towel when it was longer?"

That wasn't one of my happier times. My grandfather forced me to keep my hair long. Something about ninja honor or whatever. I tried for years to convince him that this was the 21st century, and if I didn't want to have people saying I looked like a girl, then I wanted it cut. He still didn't let me.

So, I found a pair of scissors, and chopped it all off late one night. I ended up getting chewed out by the old man, but in the end it looked pretty good. "Hey, I thought you said you wouldn't bring that up again." She laughed and said, "I know, I know. Sorry about that." She walked over to the wood drawers against the wall, and rummaged through some of her shirts.

"Hey, do you know where my lilac tank top is?" I looked at her and said flatly, "I'm a guy. Do I look like I know what color lilac is?…Check the bottom drawer." She did, and pulled out the tank top, then stuck her tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes. "See, you do know what color lilac is." I growled and told her, "You were just lucky I did the laundry last time." Alice then reached into the drawer above it and pulled out a black skirt.

It was the only piece of clothing she owned that wasn't a shade of purple. "Well, my tank top doesn't belong in the bottom drawer." She stepped into the bathroom to change. When she stepped back out she had on the tank and skirt. Black was a really good color on her.

In my opinion it made her legs look amazing. "What's the special occasion that you're getting all dressed up for?" She smiled and walked over to me, sitting down on the side of the bed. "I can't just wear something different every now and then?" I chuckled and told her, "Hey, it doesn't matter what you wear, you're still beautiful to me."

A blushed slapped her in the face, and she turned to hide it. I grabbed her chin with my hand, and returned her face to mine. Her face was still red. "Hey, don't hide that blush from me." Now her face was even more red, and I placed my lips on hers. She pulled away from my lips and said smoothly, "Surprise. Surprise." I laughed and kissed her again.

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><p>OMG SURPRISE UPLOAD! XP our game got rained out and we were realeased early! if you define this as early. o.o well, i think that's it. if there is an upload tomorrow, it will be late because of contests. again, wish the THS MARCHING BAND THE BEST OF LUCK! well, read, review, and other wonderful things that make me proud to update new chapters! ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	13. That Blasted Shed

_Shun_

I fell backwards on the couch, knocking a pillow off as I did so. "Shun, I haven't even left yet. I swear, sometimes you and Dan are so much alike that it scares me." I sat up and glared at her. "Don't _ever _compare me to Dan again." Alice put her purse over her shoulder and scooped up the car keys.

She was going up to the clinic for a check-up, and I got stuck staying at the house and doing the cleaning. "Then don't complain. I'll be back in a few hours. Try not to break anything out of boredom." I waited till she left out and closed the door, then stuck my tongue out. The door then swung back open, startling me and making me fall off the couch. "I forgot my phone. And I know you were sticking your tongue out at me." I rubbed my wrist where I had broken my fall with it. When she left out this time, I didn't bother to make any faces.

_Guess I should get started on that to-do list I got stuck with._ It was pinned on the fridge by a magnet that was advertising for some repair service. I read down the list and said, "I can finish this in no time." I started with the first item, and worked my way down. After thirty minutes, I had only two more jobs to do. _I think Alice knew I'd finish quickly._ I went and swept the house like it said, and crossed it off the list.

I saw the last chore and sighed. I said under my breath, "One more." Written in Alice's handwriting, it said, _"Clean the leaves out of the gutters. There's a ladder out in the shed." _The shed, seemed like it was two miles into the forest, and quite frankly, it creped the hell out of me. _Why can't I just I did, and don't?_

I then thought of how if Alice found out, I'd still have to do the job. Sighing, I headed out the door to get the ladder. The hot sun beamed down on me, and felt as though I was slowly being set on fire. I stepped over briers and sticks, and finally found the shed. The walls were made of steel, and were beginning to rust and turn a light green near the bottom from the rain. I turned the knob, and it let out a horrible screech. The shed had that dusty old smell filled up to the brim, and overflowing from the roof.

I waved my hand, knocking spider webs out of my way as I stepped into the darkness. Light was filtering from a small hole in the roof, and you could see little pieces of dust and dirt floating around now that they had been disturbed. I felt something touch my feet, and I jumped up. "What the hell!"

I was able to make out the shape. It was a cover for what looked like a generator, and I must of knocked it off as I went by it. I growled and picked up the dirty cloth and put it back. _Let's just find that damn ladder so I can get the hell out of here._ I had told Alice several times that I didn't like this place, but she just kept saying I was overreacting. _Ha. Overreacting my foot. This place hates me._

Everybody that ever had come in here, always found what they needed in a matter of seconds, while I had to spend forever hunting for what I needed. And I had to dodge traps made by my own clumsiness. I saw the ladder leaning against the wall in the very back, and started towards it. "Ha! Got it!" It was a six foot ladder, just a bit taller than me, but only by like a few centimeters.

I turned around to leave the shed from hell, when I felt something wrap around my ankle, and I fell forward to the ground. The floor, which was made of dry and tightly packed dirt, felt like I hit concrete, and a cloud of dust puffed up from underneath me. I closed my eyes so they wouldn't get any in them, and I stood up and saw a rope had tangled around my foot. I pulled the rope off and threw it far away from me. My eyes were hunting where the ladder fell, and it was only a few feet from me.

Double checking where I stepped, I reached for it, and quickly ran out of the shed before I ended up seriously injuring myself. Once in the light, I looked over myself for any unwelcome friends that might of stuck to me, like spiders. My clothes were covered in dirt, and I had a few fine cuts on my arms, and probably my face.

I growled. "All that trouble and I still have to clean the gutters." Dragging the ladder, and myself, back to the house, I unfolded the ladder and placed a trash can to catch what I cleaned out. After an hour, I was almost done, when I felt the ladder wobble a little.

It then fell out from under me, and I latched onto the gutter. My feet searched for the wall, and when they found it, I pushed myself up onto the roof. I stared at the ladder, and saw one of the legs had broken. _Cheap piece of junk. Thing almost killed me._ I sighed and decided not to clean out the last little bit, and laid back on the roof.

_Alice_

I had just left the clinic, and was pulling into the driveway. Shun was probably done with everything and resting inside. I was halfway right. When I got out of my car, he was laying on the roof, his arms folded behind his head and his eyes closed. "Shun, what are you doing up there?" He sat up and his clothes were covered in dirt, and his face had a small cut on it. "What happened to you?"

His eyes narrowed at me and he pointed into the woods and said, "That damn shed is what happened to me! I'm telling you the thing is cursed!" I shook my head. "Shun, it's not cursed. You're just a klutz at times. But the shed doesn't explain why you're sunbathing on the roof." He laid back down and said, "The ladder broke while I was on it and climbed up here. And I decided that I might as well just stay up here. It's a lot safer than anywhere else."

I saw the ladder, and the broken leg on it. _Grandfather did say a while back we needed a new one soon._ "Well, get down before you get sunburned." He sighed and sat up. He slid down from the roof, and I heard his feet hit the ground with a thud. He almost lost his balance, but stopped himself from falling over. "And you're going to clean up the minute you get inside. Cause I'm sure you don't want to dirty up the house after you just cleaned it. Do you?" He didn't comment and headed towards our room. I shook my head. _How can anybody make cleaning the house up this difficult?_

_Shun_

The shower was the best thing I had done all day. I stepped out and got dressed, despite still being wet. I didn't care. I wanted those dusty clothes off of me and something clean on. I bent over and got my towel and dried off my hair. A knock on the bathroom door startled me. "Shun, hurry up. I want to take a shower sometime today too." I glared at the door and said back, "There are how many bathrooms in this house?"

I tossed the towel over the shower rail. "My shampoo is in there thank you very much." I combed out my hair and told her, "Ok. Ok. I'm almost done so hold on. Sheesh. No need to get your dress in a bunch." I put my comb down and opened the door and saw Alice standing there giving me the evil eye. I stepped aside and motioned towards the bathroom with my hands.

"You're bathroom my queen." She rolled her eyes and said, "What's that make you? The jester?" I narrowed my eyes at her and told her, "Fair enough." She walked by me, her hair brushing against my arm. The door then shut behind me and I heard the water turn on. Alice then squealed.

"Shun! You used up all the hot water!" I smirked and said back to her, "Oh, did I forget to mention that?" I made my way into the kitchen, to at least give me a few more minutes of life before she got out and found me. _It was all worth it though._

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><p>WE ARE AWESOME! WE ARE AWESOME! OUR BAND GOT ALL ONES, BEST DRUM MAJOR, BEST BAND IN OUR DIVISION, AND PLACED 4TH OUT OF 20 BANDS! -dances- we are just that epic. XP it's October now. o.o another month closer to "doomsday" o.o i've been listening to like tons of Alice Cooper now. o.o lol. XD well, i think that's all for now. read, review, and other things! ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	14. A Year Without Rain

_Alice_

Little taps sounded on the window. Rain. I opened my eyes and saw the gray sky being distorted by the water on the window. _I thought it was supposed to be sunny all day._ I felt something kick my leg, and I turned to see Shun tossing and turning. He was wrapping himself up in the covers as he did so, and I pulled them back so he wouldn't hog all of them. Shun only kicked and stole the blanket when he was deep in sleep.

This was no special occasion. There could have been a fire in the room and he'd sleep through it. The rain had a steady beat to it. If there was any wind blowing, I couldn't hear it. Shun attempted to take then covers, and I let him succeed this time. I sighed and climbed out of the bed. I walked through the hallway and living room, and stepped outside into the rain.

There was steam rising from the hot asphalt streets that were being cooled by the water. I felt my hair frizzing out, and took the ponytail I left around my wrist, and tied my hair up so it wouldn't be as bad. The whole house was surrounded by steam, and almost looked like a fog. The only difference was that the steam was clinging to my body, and to my lungs when I breathed in. The wind blew a stray raindrop went and fell onto my arm. I saw the floor behind the doorway where I was standing was beginning to get wet from stray droplets just like the one that hit my arm. I reached into the umbrella stand and pulled one out, then stepped out into the rain, closing the door behind me.

I peered from under the umbrella and saw the gray sky, remembering there was a fiery sun and blue sky behind it. A raindrop caught my cheek, startling me. I wiped it away and walked towards the edge of the woods. About eight months ago, Shun had run off and gotten lost in the icy forest. He had seen the lights in our house and made his way towards them, seeking help.

_Me and grandfather were just about to go to bed too. I wonder what would of happened if we had turned out the lights, and Shun didn't see them. Would he of still found the house? Or would he of frozen to death?_ I remembered hearing the weak pleas for help, and the knocking on the door. When I opened the door, I found Shun passed out on the concrete steps, and called for my grandfather to help.

It was completely unexpected. Nobody could of predicted that late in a winter night, that Shun would have been laying on the steps unconscious, nearly frozen. I was still standing near the edge of the forest that seemed to of brought Shun this way, when I felt a finger poke my shoulder.

I turned and saw Shun standing behind me, soaking wet from the rain. "Shun?" He grinned, and against the steamy air, he looked unreal. The color of his eyes popped out against the foggy background. I then reminded myself he was standing in the pouring rain. "Shun, you're gunna catch your death if you keep standing in that rain." I motioned for him to get under the umbrella with me, and he did. We were pressed up against each other to stay dry. I felt his arm wrap around my waist and pull me even closer to his wet body.

My face blushed when he smirked at me. I lifted my head and met his gaze. I saw my reflection in his amber eyes, but it wasn't just me. It was trust, understanding, care. All things that people thought Shun was incapable of, and he had given me all of them. Nobody else. I breeze blew from behind him, making his hair blow towards his face and my hair away from mine.

Once the breeze stopped, a lock of his wet hair was stuck to his face. I giggled and unstuck it. He said softly, "Thanks." I smiled. Water cascaded from the tips on the umbrella now with the continuous rainfall. If ether of us moved any, water would of soak our backs. Just from the sheer humidity, my hair was now wet. A bead of the humidity formed into a water droplet, and rolled from my hair and onto my neck. Shun's thumb wiped it away gently. It was if he were scared I'd break if he wasn't careful.

I was amazed at how many words were being exchanged without saying a single sentence. Without realizing it, our lips were closing in on each other, when a large gust of wind swooped in and stole the umbrella from us. I held my hair and watched as the wind carried it down the driveway and then into the woods. I was now exposed to the rain, and I was soaked in no time.

The temperature then dropped from a hot and humid, to chilly. I shuddered. I didn't know if it was from the drop in degrees, or cause I was wet and the wind was still nipping at me. I felt Shun's body press against my back, and his arms wrapped around my shoulders as he whispered softly into my ear, "How about we go inside now? We can start up a fire in the fireplace and warm up by it while our clothes dry." I leaned my head back and smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me."

_Shun_

We had changed clothes, and hung them up near the fire. Now, the two of us were laid out on a blanket in front of the fireplace. The coffee table had been moved back to make room for us. I was propping myself up on my elbow and letting Alice lean into my chest. She was on the floor, her head resting on a pillow from the couch, and she was holding my free hand.

Her soft fingers rubbed the back of my hand, and I smiled. She wasn't aware that I was looking at her, and I didn't mind. Sometimes it was ok to be unnoticed. Her hair was still damp on the ends, where the bright orange was tinted almost auburn.

My hair was dry now, maybe a little wet on the ends like hers. The crackling fire made a popping noise as a coal or something in it exploded from the heat. Embers rose up from the blaze and the fell right back into the fire. It brought back the memory of Alice being trapped in the lab when it caught on fire.

I was actually scared. Not for myself, but for Alice. I had lost so much in my life, and I wouldn't of been able to bare it if I lost her when I was starting to fall in love with her. Alice moved herself a little bit closer to the fire, and did as well. Even if it was summer, the weather could be random.

And this was one of those random moments. I decided to make the fire instead of turning up the heat. It just seemed like a more romantic idea. Alice starting humming a song, which I soon figured out what it was. She was humming Tokio Hotel's "Monsoon." All I really knew about them was that they were German, and Alice listened to them what seemed like all the time. I knew the lyrics, and started singing along with her humming.

_Running through the monsoon,_

_Beyond the world,_

_Through the end of time,_

_Where the rain won't hurt._

_Fighting the storm,_

_Into the blue,_

_And when I loose myself I think of you._

_Together we'll be running somewhere new._

_Through the monsoon._

_Just me and you._

She stopped humming and looked at me, smiling. "So you do listen to my iPod." I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Only when you have it plugged into your speakers. Then again, I have no choice, now do I?" She giggled, then laid down on her back, facing the ceiling. "You know, you have a really good singing voice." I smiled at her and told her, "Well thank you. Dan's told me I can't sing, but I think he meant himself."

She laughed. Her hair was splayed out, looking just like the fire in front of us. I looked into her brown eyes, and felt as though I were swimming in them. I laid down on my back like her, and she tried to move but said, "Ouch. Shun, you're on my hair." I apologized and moved so she could retrieve her hair, then laid back down. The roof had that spiked pattern on it, and reminded me of a snow storm for some reason.

Just then, I craved for that winter to return to us. That harsh winter when I got caught out in the storm, and was found by Alice and her grandfather. Things were just starting to kindle between us. Neither one brave enough to admit our feelings for each other, and when we kissed it was awkward, but we both craved more. I knew winter would be around the corner in no time, but it wasn't that winter that we shared.

I looked back at Alice, and saw she was twirling one of her orange curls. She was still looking at the ceiling. I wondered if she was thinking about the same thing as me. I noticed her other hand was tracing patterns into the blanket. _Maybe a pattern from the ceiling?_ I looked up and didn't see anything that mimicked what she was drawing into the fabric.

A tear then rolled down her cheek. "Alice, what's wrong?" She touched her cheek where the tear rolled off, and wiped it dry. "Oh, I was just remembering some of our memories. You must think it's a silly thing to cry over." _So, she was thinking about our past moments. _I shook my head. "It's not a silly thing to cry over. I was just worried." She smiled and told me, "Thanks for your concern."

I glanced out the window and saw it was still raining, but the sky was darkening. Signaling the coming night. I turned back to Alice and saw she was beginning to doze off. The fire was now dying down, and only a small flame remained. I got up to see if our clothes had dried, and they had. I removed them for the rig we set up to dry them, and took them into our room and put them in the dresser. They were still warm, and smelled off the smoke from the fire. Our room was dark and chilly compared to the living room.

I was about to walk back into the living room, and stopped to look at a picture Alice had hung up without me knowing. It was when we went to Murucho's party, and both of us ended up sick by the end of the night. _She looked beautiful that night. _We were standing in front of the staircase in the dining hall, my arm wrapped around Alice's back. _God I looked dorky in that tux…._ Overall though, it was a nice picture of us. My eyes saw the necklace I bought her while she was in the hospital.

It really did go with that purple dress. _If only that night didn't end in a total disaster. _I walked out of the room and back into the living room where Alice was. She was still on the floor, sleeping, and the fire was almost completely out. I laid back down next to her, grabbing the extra blanket we got incase the fire wasn't enough warmth. I covered both of us up with it, and wrapped my arms around her.

It was weird how now we were so comfortable being this close, when not long ago it was insanely awkward to just hug or kiss. Alice felt me lay next to her, and buried herself into my chest, sighing contently. I buried my face into her hair, felling the heat from my breath surround my face.

Her hair didn't smell like her shampoo, it smelled like the fresh rain that was falling from the sky. Something so simple could have been marketed and turned into the must have item of the year. But I was the only one that had any access to it, and that made me feel special.

I heard a low wail and a gust of wind found its way down the chimney and blew the fire out like a candle. The room then fell dark, and the only thing that reassured me that I wasn't alone, was Alice's body pressed against mine.

* * *

><p>omg mushy moment! ^^ i like have had this idea for a ShunxAlice story for years actually, and its constantly evolved through the years to almost a stage of perfection. I do believe that i'll start up on it when i finish this one. it's kind of a supernatural thing for forwarning if you dont like em. -.- well, that's it. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	15. Strange

_Shun_

I kicked my feet back and forth, making the swing underneath me move. Alice was at work, and I was at the park as usual. But instead of being on my little bench, I was sitting over on the swings to pass the time. The grass underneath my feet had been worn away by years of peoples' feet trampling it. And now the dirt that remain was damp from yesterdays rain. Now the sky was clear again.

Not even a cloud. "Shun!" I stopped swinging and saw a brunette running my way, waving her hand while the other held several books. "Omaki?" She stopped in front of me, clutching her books to her chest. Her hair covered her face as she bent over to catch her breath. Omaki stood up straight and smiled. "Shun! I haven't seen you in months!" The last time I had seen her, was when Alice and I had made up.

Which was also the day I found out she was pregnant. "Yeah. It's been awhile. What have you been up to?" She held her stack of books out in front of me, and the first one had _Calculus_ written on the front. "I'm attending a community college in town. Remember how I told you guys I was here for that Student Ambassador Program? Well, they decided to send me to this community college." I took one of the books she had and flipped through the pages. I didn't understand a single word in there. I closed the book and said, "That's awesome." Omaki was bright. Everyone knew that. She had on the school's uniform.

A navy blue shirt and skirt with some white on the edges. Her hair had seemed to of gotten longer since I had last seen her. "So, what have you and Alice been up to? Last time I saw you two, you had just made up from a fight. You're still together, right?" _How would she react to me telling her about Alice? Would Alice even want me to tell her?_ I scratched the back of my head and said, "Yeah, we're still together. And things are going great."

She gave me a thumbs up with her free hand and suddenly said, "So, are you ever gunna propose to her?" I blinked my eyes at her. It was such a sudden question. "The thought never really crossed my mind to be honest." She nearly fell over. "What? If you're really madly in love with her, you should propose to her. I mean, you want to be together for a really long time right?"

_You don't even know the half of it._ I was trying to find my words, when Alice started walking our way. "Shun, I was waiting for you in the car for like ten minutes…..Omaki?" The two girls ran and hugged each other. Omaki wouldn't be able to see the small bump on Alice's belly due to her dress, so she still didn't know. "I think I'll wait in the car while you two catch up." I tried to walk past them, but Omaki grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me towards them. "I don't think so ninja-boy. You're gunna stay right here."

I growled. "So Alice, anything new?" _Let's see if she tells her._ "Well, actually yes. I'm pregnant." Omaki popped me in the back of the head. I turned and glared at her. "What the hell was that for!" She scrunched up her nose a little and said, "You didn't tell me you two were having a baby!" I sighed and dropped to the ground and sat there between the two girls, keeping my head held down. _Why me…_

I asked Alice, "Can I _please_ wait in the car?" She told me to go on. I quickly got up, glad to be away from there. I stuffed my hands into my pockets as I approached the car. I must of looked a little suspicious to some people, cause all I eyes were on me. I climbed into the passenger seat and sighed.

The two girls were now sitting on a bench talking. _I could be here for a long time….._ I saw Alice left the key in the ignition, and I turned it backwards so I could listen to the radio without cranking the car. I searched through the stations and found something playing rock music. _Better than nothing._ I had no clue was singing, and didn't really care for their music. A guy on a bike then shot past the car, and I could hear the sound of the chain turning in the gears through the opening I made in the widow.

I saw they were still talking, and sighed. I climbed out of the car and walked across the street. There was a little shop that sold clothing and other novelties. I walked past some other stores, that sold anything from clothes to fitness equipment. I then found one that was a music store.

I shrugged my shoulders and walked inside, only planning to stay in there a few minutes and scan through their selections. An 80s band was playing over the speakers, and I was greeted by rows and rows of CD's and collector's boxes. In the very back wall, were several guitars they were selling. I began thumbing through the music, not seeing much that sparked my interest. I was extremely picky when it came to music. There were many bands and groups I had heard of, but they just weren't that good to me. I said under my breath, "I guess when you write your own music, everyone else's isn't just as good."

"Talk about being biased." I jumped and turned around. There was a guy wearing a shirt with the store's logo on it, and he looked about my age. His hair was jet black with the bangs dyed bright red, which fell over his eyes. He also had on grayish skinny jeans with black and white Converse shoes on. I had been called emo from the way I dressed, but this guy took it to a new level.

"Didn't mean to scare ya. So, need any help finding anything? We're having a sale if you haven't noticed." I took my attention back to the CD's and said, "I noticed. But I'm just looking." He walked back off somewhere in the store. _That dude is just plain weird._ I heard the harmonious strings of an acoustic guitar being played.

I turned and saw the guy behind the counter, his feet propped up on the counter and a guitar in his lap. "Hey, that sounds pretty good." He looked up from the strings and smirked. "Thanks. When you got tons of free time here, ya got to learn how to keep yourself busy."

I went back to the rows of CD's, but kept focusing more on what he was playing. I found myself picking out the chords he was playing, and was mentally playing them in my mind. "Hey, how bout ya grab a guitar and let's hear what ya got." I looked at him, and saw he was pointing to the back wall. I raised an eyebrow at him. "You won't get in any trouble will you?" He shook his head, his bangs moving back and forth.

"Nope. Boss don't care if we play around on them. As long as it doesn't get broken, it's cool." I walked over to them, and found just a basic acoustic guitar. He directed me with his hand to a couch that was against the wall that I didn't notice when I came in. I sat down, guitar in my lap.

"Go on. Play a few chords." I tested to see if it was in tune, and it was. I then played a little something I came up with years ago when I had a break after training with my grandfather. The guy was nodding his head. "That's pretty good. By the way, name's Snake." _Is this guy for real?_ He shook his hand and said, "Just to let you know, that's not my real name. I just hate the name Geoffrey."

He made a gagging sound as he said his real name. I placed my fingers on the neck of the guitar and said, "Mine's Shun." Geoffrey, I mean, "Snake" raised an eyebrow at me and said, "Is that your real name, or nickname?" That wasn't the first time somebody had asked me that. "It's my real name." He threw his head back and laughed. "Dude, that's freaking epic."

I shook my head. This guy had serious damage issues. I heard him picking at his guitar again, and I figured out the chords and played with him. "You know your stuff. Hey, we're hiring right now, being I'm the only one working here. Ya want a job?" He had my attention now. After endless weeks of hunting for employment, it now slaps me in the face. "Sure. I could really use the money."

He laughed again. "That's awesome. I'll tell my boss when he comes to close up shop. Here, write down your number in this notepad so he can call you to let ya know when to start." I tossed the notepad and a pen at me, and I caught both of them. "You got epic reflexes too, dude."

I wrote down my cell number and said, "I doubt you'd believe me if I told you I had some ninja training." He waved his hand and said overconfidently, "Yup. Darn right. That's be awesome if you had though. Now if I saw you doing some epic ninja moves, then I might believe ya." I shook my head. _Do I really want to work around this guy?_ I tossed him back the notepad, and was about to throw him back the pen when he said, "Keep the pen. We got millions of em." I placed the pen on the couch.

Last thing I wanted was to carry a pen with me all the way home. The bell over the door dinged, and Alice walked in. "There you are Shun. I thought I'd find you here." Snake smirked and said, "You know my pal Shun, now do ya?" I stood up from the couch, and was going to take the guitar back where I got it from. "You can leave it there. I'll put it up." I thanked him.

He walked over to Alice and was trying his best to flirt with her. I stepped between the two of them and said, "Come on, Alice. Let's head home." Snake put his hands up in defense and said, "Hey, I was just kidding around. Didn't mean to put the moves on your girl, pal."

I narrowed my eyes at him and walked out the store with Alice. "Shun, please tell me you don't actually know that guy." The sun wasn't in the sky anymore, but it wasn't dark. More like dusk. "No, but I might of gotten a job there. And sadly I'd be working around him." She shook her head then told me, "He kind of reminds me of you, except he's way more cheesy than you."

I stopped walking and blinked a few times. "He is nothing like me. It's one thing to compare me to Dan from time to time, but not to something like that." She kept walking, and I had to run to catch up with her. "Whatever you say, Shun." Cars zoomed past us on the street as we headed back to the car. "So, where'd Omaki run off to?" Alice dug the key out from her purse and said, "She went back to her dorm. Turns out she has exams tomorrow."

I acted as if I were interested. We both climbed into the car, and when Alice tried to crank it, the engine only coughed. Refusing to turn over. Alice hit the top of the steering wheel with her palms and said, "You have got to be kidding me."

Neither of us knew a single thing about cars, so we were skrewed. I looked at her and said, "Want me to call a tow company?" Alice had placed her forehead on the wheel and said, "Yes, please." I got out my phone and found the phonebook we kept under the back seat in the car. Just in case something like this happened.

* * *

><p>actually finished this kinda early. o.o i kinda got the idea for "Snake" when i went into the mall and some guy that looked like him, except he had like six colors in his hair (i just liked the red the most), and he had Snake on his name tag. i went, <em>"He'd make an epic character in the story."<em> I think there will be a lot more Snake in the future. What do you guys think? Read, Review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	16. Tragic Magic

_Shun_

Both of us were sitting in the auto repair shop, waiting for Alice's Uncle to pick us up. According to the clock on the wall, it was almost nine, and the shop would be closing soon. We were sitting in these chairs next to rows of tires. The smell of fresh rubber was overpowering all my other senses. I saw Alice's hand on the armrest, I wrapped my hand around it. She looked at me and smiled.

This elderly man behind the counter said flatly, "No public displays of affection in the store please. I don't care what you two do in your free time, but don't do it here. Thank you." Alice blushed slightly and pulled her hand out of mine. _That old guy had no right to do that._ I leaned back into my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. There was elevator music playing over the speakers, and it was putting me into a bored state of mind.

I noticed Alice thumbing through some magazines they had. They were all about cars. Old and new. She sighed and left them alone. I wished like madness that her Uncle would hurry up and walk through the door to take us away from this place.

And that killjoy of and old man. The clock was now past nine, and the old guy was flipping through his key ring. "I have to lock the doors now. I think it'd be best you wait for your ride outside because, quite frankly I don't want to hang around here till it gets here. Besides, you two seem like you can take care of yourselves." Alice narrowed her eyes at him when he turned around to face the door.

I elbowed her slightly and said, "Come on. Let's get outa here." I grabbed her hand and walked out of the shop with her. When we left the door, I heard the guy say, "I thought I said no displays of affection in here. I don't care about outside though." I glanced back and growled. I told Alice, "That guy really needs to get a life and do something other than watching to see if somebody will hold hands." Alice sat on the bench in front of the large glass window of the repair shop, which took up most of the brick wall.

There was a little light next to the door, and moths were circling the dirty glass cover of the light. I looked back at Alice, and saw her shivering. "You ok?" She looked at me and smiled. "Yeah. It's just chilly out here. You know, with that cold front moving in from the North and all that." The weather wasn't really bothering me. I hated watching Alice freeze while I wasn't being phased by my surroundings.

I wished I had brought a jacket, but neither of us predicted that the car would brake down. Leaving us stuck here. A car climbed over the asphalt hill, and I hoped for it to be her Uncle. The car only sped by and turned down onto another street. I felt disappointment weight down my shoulders, and I sat next to Alice in defeat. I sighed, inching closer to her to keep her warm from my body heat. "Thanks, Shun." Footsteps then clicked on the sidewalk, and we both looked up to meet the eyes of Snake.

"Hey, pal. What you and your girl doing out here at this time of night? I thought you two would be all snuggled up with each other at home." He smiled cockily at us, and Alice turned her head the other way from him, and made a _humph _sound. I could already see she couldn't really bare to be around him. Just from the time I had been around him, I could tell he was pretty ignorant. But it worked for him. I cleared my throat and said, "If you must know. Our car broke down after we left the store."

He threw his head back laughing, then slid onto the bench next to Alice and I. Her eyes narrowed at him and she said harshly, "Shouldn't _you_ be at home?" He wiggled a finger up at her, as if telling her not to rush into anything. "Now now. I was just leaving the store and going home. Don't be all accusing." _How could Alice even compare me to this guy? We are nothing alike._

He leaned over me, and Alice did the same. They were both face to face. Snake was smiling arrogantly, while Alice glared then turned away from him. I had never seen Alice act like this before. _He must really be rubbing her the wrong way._ I felt like I was stuck in the middle of the battlefield, and I waited to be either shot or used as a weapon. Snake laughed again, crossing his legs and leaning back on the bench, and then resting his hands behind his head.

"Your girl's got spunk. I respect that." I didn't know how to respond that, or even if I should of. _Just keep your mouth shut and stay out of this._ "Oh yeah, I talked to my boss. He said ya got the job, Sparky." I stared at him. "_Sparky?_ What the hell?" He laughed. "That's what we call all the newbies that work at the shop. It'll probably stick for a few months, but ya never know."

He winked his eye, and I withdrew a little bit from him. I was seriously regretting taking the job, and if I didn't need the money, I'd turn it down now. Alice shot out of the bench and yelled, "Shun! That's my Uncle's car!" Relief flooded over me. _Bout time. You couldn't be any later Fredrick?_ He pulled up to the curb, and Alice immediately dove into the back seat. Snake laughed again.

The amount of hubris he had was unbelievable. "By the way, Sparky. Boss man said you start tomorrow at ten. Don't be late. He hates people who are late on the first day." I nodded my head and got into the back seat next to Alice. Once the door was shut, and we were driving down the street, she let out an agitated growl. "How can somebody like that be so annoying?" _And I have to work with him…_ "I can't believe you let him call you "Sparky" either. I mean, that doesn't even make sense!" I shrugged and said, "Odds are he's the only one that's going to call me that, so all I can do is blank him out."

She shook her head, and I saw Fredrick was completely lost. He was about to say something, but I stopped him. "This is better left unexplained." He nodded his head and turned his eyes back to the road. He did ask us, "Who was that crazy haired guy sitting next to you two and talking to you?" I told him, "That's some guy that works at the music store where I'm working now." He only seemed to catch the working part. "You got a job? That's great. I knew you were searching for some time."

I stared out the window and said, "Yeah. I guess you could say I got lucky." _If your definition of lucky is skrewed over._ Alice had out her phone, either checking the time or for missed calls or messages. She looked at me and said, "I have to work tomorrow. I guess I'll drop you off cause I have to be there later than you." It was true. Alice didn't start work till around 11 or so. But she didn't have to work very late. _How late do I have to work tomorrow anyway? Snake never said._

The car pulled to a stop at a red light, even though there were no cars on the street for miles. We sat there till it turned green, and we started moving again. The only life on the street was the streetlights that lit up the road. That, and some neon signs that were in the windows of a few shops. We were now out of the business, and were going past a large subdivision that sat between the town and the house.

Once past there, we were on the winding road that lead us to where we lived. Once there, Fredrick pulled into the driveway and parked that car. "Well, here we are kiddies. You two have a good night." Alice and I thanked him for driving us home, and he was then gone down the driveway.

Alice stuck the key into the door, and turned her wrist. A click sounded, and the door opened. The house still smelled of smoke from yesterday when we made the fire in the fireplace. "I'm going on to bed. I don't care what you do, just don't wake me up." She dropped her purse on the couch and started walking towards our room. I called to her, "Just for that I'm going to throw some loud party with total strangers." She stopped walking, turned and glared at me. "Good-night, Shun."

I wasn't really tired. I heard a muffled sound, that made me think of vibrating. I then saw a light flicker on in Alice's purse. _Her phone._ I reached for it, and saw she had received a message. I clicked the view button and saw it was from Runo. _Hey, Alice. None of us could find Shun's number, and Dan's phone is dead. We just wanted to let you and Shun know that his grandfather died this morning._

I kept re-reading the text, then sat down on the couch. Still looking it over. _It couldn't be a joke. Runo isn't that kind of person._ I didn't know what to think. It was true me and the old man had some bad blood, but considering he secluded me from a social life for who knows how many years.

Plus, he banned me from the family because I picked Alice over them. I flipped the phone open and closed, thinking. I didn't know what I was feeling. I wasn't feeling sad, but I wasn't happy either. _It hasn't hit me yet. That's it. What if hits me while I'm at work tomorrow? I don't think I should go in. _

_They'll understand. I'm positive._ I then realized I didn't really have any family left. Yeah, I had some cousins running around somewhere, but I never met them. I laid down on the couch, still flipping the phone's cover. _It's just me and Alice now. It was always just me and Alice._

* * *

><p>mmmmm peach pie. well, i wont upload friday. game and all that. and i may not upload saturday. another conest. and for Ava Kaiba, yes. i do have a facebook. and for anyone that wishes to look me up (no creepy stalkers please) look up Nikoru Re Peri. Can't miss me. Red hair. Tean Rocket symbol under my pic. just lemme kno you got my info from Fanfiction. Thanks. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	17. All I Want

_Alice_

I woke up that morning to the sound of my alarm clock, and Shun's spot next to me was empty. _I don't ever remember him coming to bed last night._ I slid out of the bed, and walked into the hallway. My feet popped as they started moving after my night's sleep. I entered the living room, and saw Shun laying on the couch, flipping my cellphone's cover open and shut. I raised an eyebrow and said, "Shun? Have you been laying there all night?"

He didn't seem to notice I was there. He only kept his attention on the phone. His face lighted up when my screen turned on. I could see his eyes appeared heavy from sleep, but his face was set in stone. I walked over to him. Still nothing. "Shun. Hello? Earth to Shun." I snapped my fingers next to his ear, and he snapped out of his trance. "Huh? What? Oh, it's you, Alice. Don't scare me like that."

I blinked at him a few times before placing my hand on my hip. "Me, not scare you? You were the one staring at my phone and didn't hear the rest of the world around him. If anything, you should be the one trying not to scare me. I had no clue what was wrong with you. Why do you have my phone anyway? If you keep messing with the cover it's gunna break." I tried to reach for the phone, but he wouldn't let me get my hand around it. "Shun, quit playing around and give me my phone back."

I saw his eyes. They looked as if they were trying to tell my something, that he himself didn't want to. I couldn't tell what it was. They were just so empty and hollow, almost like he wasn't even in there. I quit reaching for my phone and asked him softly, "Shun? Are you ok?" He pushed a few buttons on my phone, but I didn't know what he was doing. He closed the cover and said, "Yeah. Never better. Hey, what time is it?"

He handed me my phone back. It was still warm where he had been holding it. "It's 8:30. Shun, are you sure you're ok? Did you even sleep any last night?" He sat upright, his legs folded underneath him. "Yeah. I'm fine. And yes, I did sleep last night." I bit the inside of my bottom lip. Part of me wanted to believe him, but I just couldn't bring myself to. "I think you should stay at home today and not go to work. I'm sure they'll understand if you-" Shun was now standing up and right in front of me.

He had his hands holding my arms tightly, and his eyes were looking right into me. There it was again. That emptiness. He said sternly, with a slight grin on his face, "I said I'm fine. I shouldn't have to miss my first day of work cause you worry so much." There was a lag in his voice, making it seem like he was forcing his words out and didn't have enough energy to make them stay steady.

My teeth were still biting my lip when I said, "Ok. If you're really as fine as you say you are, then you can go. Maybe I was just worrying too much." I thought I saw a glint of disappointment flash in his eyes. I shook my head quickly and said, "Well, if you are going to work, then you better start getting ready."

_Shun_

I had spun so many lies in only ten minutes. I lied to her by saying I had slept last night, when I really just laid on the couch flipping her phone back and forth. I held my hand, which was hurting from the constant flipping. I also lied when I told her I was alright. Maybe on the outside I was, but on the inside I was burning with confusion. _Should I tell her my grandfather died? Should I be feeling sad that he's gone? _

Part of me also wished she had argued more to make me stay home, cause I was hoping she could see the war being waged in my mind. I probably wasn't fit to go anywhere from lack of sleep, and no telling how my emotional state really was. I didn't know why I was ok, or why I told her I didn't need to stay home.

It was like everything I wanted to really say was trapped inside me, while a part of me on the outside refused to let any of it by. I had acted something like this when my mother died, except I just locked myself in my room, away from the world and all the people who wanted to help me. This was different. It was like I had locked myself away inside me. I closed the door to our room and locked the latch. I reached into the drawers and got out some clean clothes to change into.

Once I had changed, I looked at myself in the oval shaped mirror that was part of the drawers. I looked normal, minus my eyes. They were the only part of me that showed any distress. Any craving and ache for help. I said under my breath, "Maybe I shouldn't go today." Alice knocked on the door and said, "Shun, hurry up or we're gunna be late." I knew she wasn't stupid.

There was a good chance she saw something behind my eyes, or heard something in my voice which seemed to not be mine at the moment. _I wouldn't of thought the old man's death would of gotten me so worked up. _Alice knocked on the door again.

"I'm almost done. I'm just trying to find a pair of socks." Yet another lie. My legs felt tired, and I went and sat on the love seat real quick. I leaned back, laying my head all the way back. I closed my eyes and I felt as though I was floating, and opening them back up only plummeted me back to the ground. "Shun, how long can it take to find some socks?" I remembered I had somewhere to be. I opened the door and walked past her. I heard her say, "I guess we'll go now."

_Alice_

I had just dropped Shun off at the music store, despite how odd he was acting. _Perhaps I should of made him stay at home….._ It was too late now as I walked into the grocery store to my own job. Naomi, a girl that worked as cashier now, was behind my usual register. She was a few years older than me, and always had some new color in her hair. Today, it was a bright purple.

_She'd be perfect for Snake. Maybe then he'd leave me alone._ She had a piece of paper and was using it to clean under her fingernails, unaware of a costumer who was putting their things on the belt. I shook my head. _There used to be competition to be employee of the month, but with all these new workers, there isn't any._ I took my break early, and headed into the break room. Some of the guys who worked in the back with storage were there getting coffee and eating their lunch.

I never asked them their names, so I didn't start a conversation. The break room had posters with corny inspirational quotes and sayings on them, and pictures that made no sense. One of the guys, who had blonde hair, walked over to the small stereo somebody had brought many years ago, and turned it on.

It was on a commercial at the time, so I'd have to wait to see what music was playing. I didn't really care though. I had brought my phone with me and sat it on the circular plastic table where we ate. There was a spot of something sticky, which looked like coffee somebody had spilt.

My phone then rang, and I saw Runo sent me a text. _Hey, nobody texted back last night, so I was just letting you and Shun know again that his grandfather passed away yesterday. And we are all keeping you two in our thoughts._ My mind immediately went back to Shun pushing the buttons on my phone.

_He deleted the message. He didn't want me to know. But why, Shun? Why?_ I closed my phone and left the break room. _I thought we could tell each other anything. Guess I thought wrong. You haven't changed much, have you, Shun?_

_Shun_

Snake wasn't at the store yet, so I was by myself. I was sitting at the counter, my elbows resting on it and my head placed in my palms. A lock of hair fell over my eyes, and I blew it out of my way with a quick breath. The bell over the door chimed. _Snake._ He wore that cocky grin, as always. "I see you're already here, Sparky. And I see you clocked in on time. You're off to a good start." He kicked his legs up and fell onto the couch, legs crossed and arms behind his head. He looked as if he were at home.

I growled. Snake opened one eye and said, "What's got you riled up, Sparky? Girl issues? With a little firecracker like that I would imagine that's the issue. Am I right? Yeah, I'm right." I felt my anger boil up in me. I was already having a bad day so far, and this little punk was making it worse. I bit my tongue, trying to refrain from giving him some choice words. Snake stood up and walked over to the store's huge stereo system and looked through some music, then popped a CD into the machine.

It was some group, that again I had never heard of. But Snake seemed to. He started pretending to play every instrument known to man, and dancing around the store. He looked like he had some nervous disorder. Snake stopped mid-guitar solo and looked at me. "Dude, you need to lighten up. Unwind, live a little, have some fun. I swear, how can you and your girl get along? I mean, she's a livewire, and you just sit there like an emo-kid."

_This little twerp is asking for a beating._ I closed my eyes and said, "You're an ass. You know that, don't you?" He threw his head back and laughed that laugh that made you want to knock the fool out of somebody. "Guilty as charged, Sparky. Now it's my turn. You're a stick in the mud who doesn't know how to have fun." I felt my teeth clench together, and my knuckles were turning white from where I had my fist clenched as well.

"I suggest you shut up." Snake cocked his head to the side and stared at me with an innocent face, then batted his eyes. I glared. He put his hands up and said, "Ok. Ok. I see you're having a pissy day." Snake made his way back to the couch, and sat on it upside down. His fingers were playing chords that weren't there, but they matched the song playing on the speakers.

The wind outside picked up, and leaves then flew past the windows, which had guitars and posters stuck all up in them. I sighed and walked over to couch and sat down. _If I have to work with this guy, I at least don't want to make it where we attempt to kill each other. _I sighed, and he looked up at me. His black and red hair being pulled to the floor by gravity. "What is eating you up any way, Sparky?"

I said with my eyes closed, "My grandfather died yesterday. That was the last family I had left. But why would you care?" He sat upright, then looked at me. He had a look of seriousness on his face. "I understand what you're talking about, Sparky. Kay? I was stuck in a foster home when I was ten cause my family got into some trouble with a few people and didn't want me to get hurt. I ended up getting a call a month later saying they all had been killed. I was then put in a halfway house for my own safety, which is where I still am till I can get enough money to get my own damn house. So I can make my own damn rules. That's why I'm such an ass, as you put it. I'm looking on the bright side of things. I tell myself everyday that I miss them, and I do. But I also remember I'm alive, and that's damn good enough for me."

I only looked at him. This couldn't possibly be the same person that was just acting up and not giving a care in the world about what other people were going through. _He's right. I should be happy that I'm still alive and have this new life with Alice._ I smiled slightly, a true genuine smile. "Maybe we aren't that different after all." He grinned and poked me in the chest with his index finger and said, "You got that straight, Sparky."

_Alice_

I rushed to the music store as soon as I got off of work. There was no telling how Shun was holding up. I swung the door open and the little bell rang. What I saw was what I least expected. Shun and sitting on this couch, playing a guitar, and Snake was sitting on the other end listening. Snake looked up at me with one eye opened, and one closed. "Hey, it's your girl, Sparky."

Shun looked up from the frets of the guitar and smiled. He looked back to normal. "Hey, Alice." I blinked in confusion. _Was he brainwashed?_ "I got a text from Runo telling me that your grandfather died. I got here as quickly as I could to see how you were doing. Shun, why didn't you tell me?" Him and Snake exchanged looks, and Snake took the guitar from Shun and stood up.

"Go on. Tell your girl some kind of sappy, emotional speech. I'll be in the back trying to hold down my lunch while you two talk." Snake left for the back with the guitar. Shun stood up, straightening his shirt as he did so. He looked older for some reason. He grabbed both my hands and kissed me on my lips. When we broke, I said, "Shun-" He cut me off to speak. "Alice, I really am fine this time. I realized I should be glad that I'm still here, and that I have you with me." I blinked a few times.

"But Shun, what about your grandfather? Don't you miss him?" He grinned at me and said, "Yeah. Of course. Despite all the hell he put me through, he was still my grandfather. And even when he kicked my out of the family, he was still my grandfather. And as long as I remember that, I'm fine." I smiled. He not only looked older, but he sounded wiser. I heard clapping, and we both turned to see Snake leaning his shoulder against the wall with one foot propped up against it as well.

"That was beautiful, Sparky. Almost brought a tear to my eye. The right amount of sweetness and sappiness that it didn't overpower the whole thing. Plus, my lunch stayed down." Shun only looked at him, and I thought he was going to say something about Snake's rudeness. But he said, "I don't see how you kept your lunch down when you ate it. Who the hell eats peanut butter and ham?"

Snake laughed and said, "Hey, don't knock it till ya try it." I put my hands up and said, "Whoa whoa. Hit the pause button. Shun, how come you and him are all buddy buddy now? Usually you look like you want to knock the fool outa him."

Shun grinned at me and said, "Trust me, he's not as bad as you think. Yeah, he can be annoying as hell, but there's a little depth in him." Snake did a double fist pump in the air and said, "Woo! I have depth!" I felt my eye twitch and said, "You two really are alike!"

* * *

><p>today went by quick. -.- bleh. p: at least i aint got any tests tomorrow. ^^ yay! aw. steve jobs died. .'' beh. i dont wanna go to the football game! i no wanna! -holds onto door- yall know the drill, no upload tomorrow and possibly none saturday. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	18. Ominous Beginnings

_Alice_

I was sitting behind the counter of the music store where Shun now worked, and him and Snake were sitting on the couch. Both had guitars in hand. I had decided to stay here when I got off of work, when I had any, and wait for the store to close up.

That way, Shun and I could take the same car, and there wouldn't be any need to waste gas in both. It was only about a two or three mile drive from the grocery store to here. My finger was running across the smooth counter, which had been scribbled on by a black Sharpie marker.

There were skulls, music notes, lyrics from songs, and a number of other things. I knew Snake had drawn all of it. I looked at him and asked, "Does your boss care that you drew all over this?" He shrugged and said, "He hadn't said nothing yet. So I assume no."

Some of the artwork was really good. _Such wasted talent._ I pulled open one of the drawers, and found the marker he had used for all his art. I opened the cap and saw the felt tip had been rubbed down to almost nothing. The marker probably didn't even write anymore. I tossed it back into the drawer, and slid it closed. The bell over the door dinged, and everyone looked to see who entered.

It was a man, who looked like he was in his thirties. Snake looked at Shun and said to him, "Don't worry, Sparky. I've got this one." He leaned the black acoustic guitar he had been playing on the side of the couch, and walked over to the customer. I couldn't hear what they were saying from the distance I was at, but the man nodded his head and went directly to a section of music.

He then returned to the couch, putting the guitar back into his lap, and continued playing right where he had left off. Snake and Shun's style of playing was completely different. Shun's style had always been mellow and harmonious. But Snake's was another story. His playing was fast and had no rhyme or reason. He was playing whatever he felt like playing.

I knew the only reason he was going crazy with the instrument, was because it was just a plain acoustic guitar. If it had been electric, I was sure he'd stand up on something and go all Slash from Guns and Roses on us. But even with their musical styling's being polar opposites, the sound blended together very well. The man who entered earlier, walked up in front of me and placed two CD's on the Sharpie marker art.

Snake jumped up and said, "Here, lemme ring you up. See, she don't work here. She's my pal's girl and just hangs around." The man didn't seem to car whether I worked here or not, and only wanted his items rung up. Snake put the two albums into a plastic bag and handed the guy his receipt.

He thanked him and left out of the store. Snake stuffed his hands into his pant pockets and said, "I'll be right back, kiddies. I gotta check something in the back real quick. No funny business." The chains that were made into his long, baggy black cargo pants jingled as he walked. Shun was now tuning the strings on the guitar he had, which was just a light brown in color.

It was odd how in his element he looked like this. Just relaxed playing songs that he might of either made up on the spot or years back. He seemed to be enjoying it too. Snake then returned to us, and he held a stack of CD's in his arms. He motioned to them with his head and said, "New release. They're probably gunna sale fast." He walked over to one of the rows that held the CD's, and stacked them neatly.

I heard him say proudly, "There we go." He stood there, seeming to be admiring his work. When he sat back on the couch, I asked him, "Do you like working here?" He did his signature laugh, that still bugged me slightly. "You ask a lot of questions for someone who looks so intelligent. But to answer your question, yes. I love being around music. It's my life. Plus, I have all the songs I'd want to listen to, and all the time in the world to play the guitars and even the keyboards in the back."

I nodded my head, reading an abbreviation for something that was written in black Sharpie. I wondered what stood for. _Knowing Snake, it's probably something gang related…Maybe not though._ Shun had told me a while back, that Snake wasn't what he really seemed.

And in the few weeks I had spent here, I was agreeing with him. I barely even noticed his arrogance now, but it still got on my nerves time to time. Shun had been quiet for most of the day, as had Snake. Minus the few times he had to talk or I asked a question.

It was starting to grow dark outside now. "Hey, Sparky. How bout you and your girl go on home. I can hold down the fort a few more hours." Shun nodded his head and said, "Thanks." Shun stood up and went towards the back wall of the store. I grabbed my purse that I had stuck behind the counter. Shun hadn't returned from the back yet, and I asked Snake, "Do you know a Naomi Burris?" He looked up from the frets and said, "Yeah. I've seen her around here a few times. Girl with the crazy hair colors?"

I nodded my head. He then asked me, "Why?" I shrugged and said, "You two are kinda alike. I'd think you'd two would get along pretty well." He shook his head, his fading red hair dye shaking with him. "Nah. She ain't my type. I'd want a girl that wasn't like me. Look at you and Sparky. You're nice and innocent, while he's got his problems and damages. Two people that both have damages, only make a hell of a fire. And I don't wanna get burned." _This must be that depth that Shun was talking about._

Shun then walked up to me and asked, "Ready to go?" I smiled and said, "Yup." Snake waved at us spastically and yelled out, "Adios and all that other foreign crap." Shun and I both told him goodbye and walked out to the car. The sun was now falling behind the horizon, and it lit the clouds up like a golden blaze in the sky. The wind blew down the street, and made chills go up my arms.

The weather was starting to grow cold again, and fall would arrive in only a matter of months. Fall wasn't one of my favorite times of the year. For some reason, it made it seem like everything was dying away, And in a sense, it was. Plus, the dead leaves covered the ground, and were a pain to clean up. Shun leaned over and knocked on the window on my side. I jumped, seeing he had already gotten in the car while I was admiring the view.

I heard him say through the window, "Are you getting in sometime this week?" I opened the door and quickly got in, apologizing as I did so. We had finally gotten the car back from the shop, and was told it was a little past due for an oil change.

My grandfather used to be the one to keep up with the oil changes. Neither me, nor Shun knew a single ounce of facts on a car. So now we had to rely on a mechanic, but Shun was trying to learn so we wouldn't have to waste our time at the auto shop again. We pulled up to a red light, and an elderly couple was walking a little toy poodle on the side walk next to us. The little white dog was nothing but curly hair, and shaved parts on its body, tail, and legs. I heard Shun say, "That's not a dog. That's a pom-pom that even a cheerleader didn't want."

I giggled and said, "Well, what do you consider a dog?" He shrugged and said, "Anything bigger than that thing." I rolled my eyes and told him, "Well, I think he's cute." The light turned green and Shun made the car go forward down the road. "Those things are mean little bastards."

I raised an eyebrow at him and said, "And you would know how?" I thought I saw him shudder, and he said, "Bad experience when I was little. Let's just leave it at that." I started laughing, thinking about what a tiny little puff ball could of done to him to make him detest the canine.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Yeah, it's always funny when it happens to somebody else." I shook my head, still smiling. "It's just a poodle, Shun." He put up a hand and said, "Ok, let's drop this please." I laughed mentally when I told him, "Ok. I'll drop the subject." He thanked me. I loud shot echoed through the dusk air then, cause Shun to panic and swerve the car off to the side of the road.

He stopped the vehicle, and one tire was on the sidewalk. "What the hell?" I held a hand to my chest, thinking for some reason it would calm my speeding heart. "Shun, why the hell did you do that?" He looked at me and said, "I didn't do anything!" We heard the shot again, and we both opened our doors and stood up. Half of us were still in the car, while the rest propped ourselves up on the top of the car.

The sound was echoing throughout the city, bouncing off the buildings and spreading out to others miles away. Two cars then came sharply around a corner, both will people hanging out of the passenger windows, guns in hand. Shun saw them the same time as me, and yelled at me, "Get in the back seat!"

I ducked back into the car, and Shun grabbed my waist and we both laid down on the floor of the back. Hoping we weren't seen. Another shot, and the back window of the car shattered into a million pieces, raining shards on top of us. Shun tried to block as many of the shards as he could.

The sound of the two car's engines began dying away, and then the wail of sirens from a police car shot past us. Shun slowly sat up, and looked out the window to see if everything had calmed down. I was leaning against the side door, my hands shaking from adrenaline.

"I think it's safe to get up, Alice." We both opened the door and double checked the surroundings. The street was still now, just as if a shooting hadn't just happened. Shun and I both walked to the back of the car, and looked at the shattered window.

Crime had been bad before, but only in the slums of the city. Recently, more and more crimes had been popping up, but nothing of this magnitude. Shun's voice said flatly, "Looks like we're gunna have to take the car back into the shop."

* * *

><p>our band did it! we got all 1's...minus the two on our drumline. -.- i blame the bass drummer. always coming in late. p: oh well, our lives got easier though. XP bleh. it's chore day! -hides in a tree- and i'm not coming down. . it feels nice outside. good fall weather here. omg. my kitty caught a lizard! o.o lol...its still twitching...well, i think that's it for now. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	19. Cat's In The Cradle

_Shun_

Neither of us slept that night, and when daytime rolled around we were both too groggy to want to go anywhere. The only reason I got up, was because of work. I worked all week, minus the weekends. _At least it's Friday._ Alice was still in the bed, trying to find her unreachable sleep.

My head hurt from just laying down all night, unable to allow my brain to rest. She usually came with me to the store, mainly to keep each other company, but I figured she'd stay here today. Alice had covered her head up with the pillow, and I heard her let out a heavy sigh.

_I'm right there with ya._ I thought back to last night, and how we were so close to getting shot. So much could of gone wrong in mere seconds. _We were both lucky to get away with a few cuts._ I stared at the palms of my hands where they had been placed in the shattered glass of the back window, and counted the tiny cuts. Alice's hands looked almost the same as mine.

I bent over and tied my shoes, and Alice sat up and asked, "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" I finished the knot and told her, "I'm positive. You need to catch up on your sleep." Her hair halfway covered her face as she said, "Well, what about you? You got as must sleep as me last night." I moved to my other shoe. "Don't worry about me. My grandfather would make me train non-stop for days without sleep, so I think I can survive today."

I smiled at her, reassuring that I could hold my own. She sighed, giving up on making me stay at home. I walked over to her, placing a kiss on the top of her orange hair. "You want anything before I leave?" Alice shook her head and told me, "If you're going then you better leave now or you'll be late."

I looked at the clock and saw she was right. If I didn't leave now, I'd have to speed down the streets to make it on time. I quickly kissed her, and told her bye as I darted out of the house. I climbed into my car, and glanced at Alice's before putting the key into the ignition. The back window was still shattered, and that meant another auto repair bill. _I'll take it in tomorrow._ The engine came alive as I turned the key. I expertly backed down the driveway and onto the main road, already pressed for time.

_Alice_

Laying in the bed felt alien, like it was a place where I didn't belong. Every spot was new territory to my mind. Even though my body screamed sleep, my mind screamed something else, causing mixed signals. I gave up, and went into the living room. My warm feet sometimes sticking to the hardwood flooring. I knew the house was empty, but it was if I was expecting somebody to walk by.

I padded into the kitchen, seeing a stack of dirty cups piling up on the counter. I then walked over to the sink, turning the water on, and grabbing a rag for the cups. I squirted some of the dish soap onto the wet rag, then jerked my hand back with a sudden stinging. I looked at my hand, and remembered the still open wounds I had obtained from last night.

The stinging of the soap in them was uncomfortable, so I washed away the dish liquid from my hand. _I'll ask Shun to do them later._ I left out of the kitchen, and back into the living room. There was no sound from anywhere. No TV. No radio. Not even the air conditioner. This stillness reminded me of days when my grandfather would be outside working in the lab, and I would be in the house with nothing to do.

Other days he may have been doing something dangerous, and didn't want me to get hurt. So, he'd make me stay inside. I had moved from the living room, to outside of the house and sat on the bench where me and Shun had sat on in the middle of the night so many months ago. My bare feet pressed against the cool, green grass, and my hand ran across the rough wood that had been worn down from years of abuse from the weather.

Rust was starting to creep up the legs of the bench, showing the wear and tear. I had long forgotten who gave us the bench, but I do remember it was a gift. And it was also handmade. I always assumed my grandfather helped somebody out, and they gave him this as payment or out of gratitude. It was well made. Strong and sturdy. _But everything fades eventually._ I heard a loud banging that reminded me of the gunfire from last night. I doubled over, covering my ears with my hands, and readying myself for the worst.

When nothing happened, I slowly looked up and saw a car crawling by the house. The bang sounded again, and a dark cloud of exhaust came from the car. I sat up, feeling foolish for panicking over nothing like that. _Like anyone would come out here in the middle of the woods and start doing a drive-by shooting. Quit being silly, Alice._ I noticed my hands shaking, and I held them in the other tightly. My attention then fell upon our metal trashcans that were placed next to the door. I slowly stood up, and tip toed over to the can.

Right when I got next to it, the can fell over and a flash of black, white, and brown darted from it. My eyes finally caught the culprit, and I found a small tabby cat. The cat stared at me with sharp golden eyes, as if asking why I was disturbing his rummaging. "You hungry little guy?" The feline only continued it's stare. "Hold on, I'll be right back." I hurried inside and into the kitchen.

I dug through the cabinet and found a can of tuna. I then rushed back outside. The cat was in the same spot, and I showed him the can. I knelt on the concrete steps, and pulled open the pop top. The tabby's nose then sniffed at the air and he trotted over to where I was kneeling. "Now you're being nice cause I have food. Here ya go." I placed the can in front of the steps, and watched as he gobbled up the canned fish.

"You were a hungry little guy. Weren't ya?" The can had been licked clean in no time, and the cat sniffed around it for anything he may of missed or dropped. I saw something shine under its neck, then saw the rest of the collar. _He belongs to somebody._ I slowly got closer, then scooped the tabby up. He didn't say anything, and only looked at me, still licking the tuna from his face.

I caught the name on the tag, but that was it. "They didn't put their address or number on here?" The cat was now purring, loud enough to be heard from a good distance. I put him back down, and he started rubbing against my leg. "You're affectionate when you want food. Sorry, I don't have anymore." He didn't seem to understand, then I remembered he was a cat.

_Should I let him go on his way? He was so hungry when I found him. What if he doesn't find his home? Maybe I should just take him up to the vet or something and let them worry about him._ I sighed, and opened the door. The tabby darted inside before I could even react.

When I ran into the house, I saw him curled up on the rug, fast asleep. _Might as well just go ahead and see if anyone has posted any flyers saying he's been missing._ I walked over to the computer we moved from my grandfather's study to downstairs, and logged on.

_Shun_

I could barely hold my eyes open, or my head up. Several times I almost let my head fall onto the counter where I had dozed off suddenly. I ached with fatigue, and begged for this day to end quickly. I jumped as Snake slammed a mug of coffee in front of me. Some splashed onto the counter and covered up his Sharpie art. "Drink this, Sparky. I'm tired of watching you almost take a faceplant onto the counter. Either wake up, or go ahead and do it for my amusement."

I reached for the coffee, holding the warm ceramic. "Sorry. We kinda had a traumatic night when we left." He sat down of the couch and said, "What happened? Disaster date, or first time?" He had no clue about Alice being pregnant, or any of what went on at the house. "No, we got caught up in this drive-by shooting after we left. Oh my god, what did you put in this?" I shook my head at the bitterness of the coffee. Snake laughed and said, "Told ya it would wake ya up. Yeah, I heard bout that shooting. Turns out it was one of my buddies at the halfway house, His name's Devlin. He's always had some, how may I put this? Different priorities on the law."

I raise an eyebrow, almost taking another sip of the coffee before remembering of the taste. Snake rolled his eyes and said, "Quit being such a girl. It ain't that bad." He swiped the cup and killed the entire thing, then sat it back down.

"THAT, is how you drink good coffee." I shuddered at the thought that anyone could drink that. "So you know the guy that almost shot me and Alice?" For some reason I felt as though I had been betrayed, but remembered Snake had nothing to do what had happened.

At least, as far as I knew. "Yeah. They had all kinds of people keeping eyes on him to make sure he didn't get his hands on something he could hurt somebody with. But Devlin always seems to get his way. Kinda makes me envy him at times. Oh well, he's in jail for good. This was his third strike."

I started imagining all the skrewed up people that must have been at that halfway house. _It seems more like a mental institute more and more each day._ "Listen, Sparky. I'm sorry bout you and your girl almost getting a bullet to the skull, but it was only a matter of time before he got sent to jail anyway. It was a mystery anyway how he wasn't in there months ago. Some say he smooth talked the judge into letting him go. There won't be any more smooth talk this time. Just be thankful that nobody was hurt."

I felt the coffee high wearing off now, and I was starting to grow drowsy again. Snake clapped his hands together, and I looked at him. "Sparky, just go home. I'm tired of my hopes getting up about whether you'll smack your face against the counter or not. I'll tell the boss you were feeling sick. He doesn't like it when sick employees are hear. Makes him worry he'll get sued." I didn't know if I felt grateful or annoyed, either way, I was going home.

_Shun_

I walked into the house and said, "Alice, it's me. Don't freak out and hit me with something please cause I'm not really in the mood." She called back, "Don't worry. I'm not going to hit you." I was about to ask her where she was at, when I saw a round ball of fur. "Alice? What the hell is that curled up next to the fireplace?" She then stepped out from the den, holding a cup of iced tea.

"That's Max. I found him outside after you left." I only stared at him. "You brought a stray in here? Do you have any idea what he's probably been in?" She took a sip of her tea and said back, "He's not a stray, just lost. I'm trying to find the people who lost him. And I know of one place he's been…Or garbage." I hit my face with the palm of my hand. I had never really been a cat person.

"Ok, it can stay here till you find the owner. But I don't wanna see that ball of hair on the furniture. So help me if I catch him on any of it, he'll become an outside cat again." Alice shook her head and returned into the den, leaving me and that cat in the same room.

His head raised up and looked at me. He let out a strained _mroew _and yawned. I narrowed my eyes at the cat, and said, "And let's keep it that way. If we do, then there won't be any trouble…..Wait, am I seriously talking to you? I must be more tired than I thought. Alice! I'm gunna go lay down, kay?"

She yelled back, "Kay. I'll be in the den for a while." I glared at the cat one last time, and it looked back at me, licking its face. _Something just isn't right about that thing._ I ignored him and left for the room that me and Alice shared. _And it's going to stay just me and Alice. No fuzzy bucket that runs out of a room for no reason._

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><p>OMG! im sorry for not uploading yesterday. it was kinda a random day and i had no time to upload. -bows many times- Shun's attitude towards the cat is actually based off a teacher i had last year who dislikes them very much. like the whole 'runs out of the room for no reason' was straight from his mouth. it was kinda funny how he hated cats. XP lol. ah, we all loved Coach Specks uber much. XP bleck, i thinks ima gettin an ear infection. -.-'' no fun there. i do belive there will be an upload friday. well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	20. Visible

_Shun_

The weekend felt like a blessing in disguise. It was a perfect Saturday. I was helping Alice clean up the kitchen from the lunch that had been made. I was about to place a stack of plates up, when I stopped and saw that cat on the table. "Hey! Get off of there!" It only looked at me, then rolled over. Alice walked over to him and put him on the floor. "Shun, I know you don't like him, but try to be somewhat nice to him. Besides, he's probably only going to be here a few days till we find the owner."

The cat was still staring at me, then it walked out of the kitchen. "I think that cat's brain dead." Alice shook her head and cleaned off some silverware. I remembered why I was standing there, and opened the cabinet and placed then heavy ceramic plates on the shelf. I looked at the love of my life. Her thick orange hair was pulled into her signature ponytail, while she was wearing an apron around her body to protect her purple dress from getting anything on it.

The bump on her stomach was completely noticeable now. No longer would people be debating whether she just had a little pudge, they would now know that she was pregnant. She had caught me up on how far along she was, and it was a good thing because I had actually forgotten with all the mass chaos. I couldn't believe that three months had gone by so quickly.

_Three down, six more to go._ I randomly thought back to Omaki's question on whether I was ever going to marry her or not. Of course I was, but it just seemed like such a far away topic. One of those kind of things that you dream about, and when you have the opportunity to achieve it, you question all your motives. A loud racket sounded in the den, and we both rushed into the room.

We saw a knocked over picture, and the cat next to it. I glared at it and said, "Damn cat. I thought I told you to stay off the furniture!" The feline shot from the room, knocking some junk mail off the table where it was sitting. Alice bent over and set the picture upright. It was a photo of Alice's biological Aunt and Uncle. The ones that took her in after we all discovered she was Masquerade.

She had told me they lived in some little village in Russia. A place that seemed almost unreal. I had been shown pictures of the little town. Everything looked like it had been hundreds of years ago. From the houses, and even to the people. I had never met them, but they seemed like good people. The whole ordeal with Masquerade seemed like another lifetime we all lived in.

It was something we all agreed to push into the back of our minds and forget about. Never to be brought up again. Alice was knelt down on her knees, picking up the scattered papers from the cat. She placed the mail back onto the table, then sighed. "What's wrong?" I helped her stand up on her feet. "Thanks. I'm just tired." I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and placed a stray lock of orange hair back into place. "You're just bored. It's been too quiet around her lately. Some excitement is just the thing you need." She looked at me with a quizzical expression. "And what's your idea of excitement?"

I thought for a minute and told her, "There's plenty of exciting things to do around town. I'm sure of it. You just have to look." She pulled away from my embrace and made her way over to the book shelf that was in the den. She scanned the books, then pulled one out and opened it to the page marked by a little red piece of silky ribbon. I craned my neck to see what she was reading.

I caught part of a sentence. It was written in Russian of all things. "It's a book of just little sayings and quotes. Not from any writers that made it big, just local people from all over." I nodded my head, completely lost with what was scribbled on the paper.

She turned the page and said, "My grandfather used to tell me this one all the time." Her slender finger pointed to one of the sentences. "What does it say?" She smiled and told me, "It actually refrains to what you were telling me about needed more excitement. It says, _'You may wish for a new life. New beginnings. New things to replace the old. You may wish for things to be spontaneous, or even more unexpected. But in the end, you were really happy with what you had before your wishes. Your best wishes, with best intentions, are only of things that won't make you happy. Always hold dear the old, but always look to the new as well. Never allow the new, to bury the old._"

I stared at the words, as if they would turn into English and tell me if that was really what was written. "What does it exactly mean?" I was never one that was good with dissecting the meaning of things like this.

"I always thought it meant that you should never give away what you already had, just because you think something will be better. But it's acceptable to have some new, as long as you don't forget what came before it. My grandfather used to know, but would never tell me. He'd always say it's whatever I made it out to be, no matter how others may view it."

I blinked my eyes. "But how does this retain to being about the more excitement thing?" She giggled and said, "Sometimes a change to routine isn't what is always needed. It may seem like a good idea, but in the end it won't be as expected."

I shrugged my shoulders, not exactly knowing what to say. Alice put the book away, and took a step backwards. I quickly saw her foot catch on the rug, and I grabbed her and stopped her from falling. She held tightly to me. "Whoa. Thanks, Shun. I'm such a klutz."

I didn't want to let her go. I felt sturdy on the ground when I held her. Any doubts or questions I had, vanished because I saw that all the answers in my arms. I was afraid when I would let her go, that my judgment would become clouded again, and I wouldn't be sure about my reality. "Shun, you can let me go now. I'm not falling anymore." I gave us some distance between us, and told her, "Just making sure."

She smiled, and I loosened my grip around her. My arms then returned to my sides. There was no longer a weight to hold me onto the ground again, and it was up to me to hold myself down. I could feel the phantom presence of Alice where I had caught her.

She smiled and left into the kitchen. I turned and saw the blasted cat sitting there, looking at me. "What do you want?" It then walked out of the room, as if playing a mind game with me. _This is why I don't trust anything that craps in a box of sand._

_Alice_

There was this awkward moment lingering in the air now. I knew Shun didn't want to let me go, I didn't want him to either, but we were just standing there. Not saying anything. And it wasn't one of those times where everything is said just by looking in the other's eyes. No.

It was just a silent conversation. Not even emotional signals flying back and forth. It was just an _ok, it happened _moment. I forgot why I came into the kitchen, and knew that if I just left out into another room Shun would think I left to avoid him. When I really left to escape the awkwardness.

The house phone's sudden ring made me jump, and I went into the living room to answer it, but Shun had beat me to it. "Uh-huh. Well, I'd be more than grateful if you took it off our hands. Ok. Good-bye." He placed the phone back down. "Who was that?"

The cat then trotted into the room, and Shun pointed to him. "The owners of THAT thing. They said they'd either be by today or tomorrow to take him home. Looks like your searching did the trick." The cat only looked at us, seeming to be completely clueless as to what was going on.

He had not a single care in the world going on. I'd admit, I was going to miss the tabby. _Shun will miss him too. Whether he wants to admit it or not. _The feline yawned and laid down next to the door. "Again. That thing is brain damaged somehow." I gave Shun a look and shook my head. "It probably thinks the same way about you." He was about to say something in return, then caught my comment. "Hey!"

I laughed and walked up to him, running my fingers down his smooth black hair. "Why are you petting me?" I shook my head again and said, "I'm not petting. Think of it more as grooming because you don't know what a brush is." He let out a huff of air, causing the bangs over his eyes to fly up, then fall back down.

I straightened his now messed up bangs. I randomly said, "I wonder what Snake does on his weekends off." Shun let his shoulders shrug and said, "Probably sit in the store with a guitar and draw all over the counter like he does during the week." I stopped messing with his hair, now satisfied that it looked decent and neat. "I thought the store was closed on the weekends."

Shun's eyes went upwards, as if trying to see what I did to his hair. "It is. But do you really think that that'll stop Snake from going there? He practically lives there as it is." Shun then shook his hair like a wet dog, and all the work I put into fixing it was ruined. "Now why did you do that?"

He smiled cockily and said, "It's my day off. I have every right to look as underachieved as I want." I rolled my eyes when he winked at me. "What am I going to do with you?" He jumped next to me and said closely to my ear, "Love me. Feed me. Never leave me." I smiled and said, "I don't have to feed you. And you make it difficult to not love you." He smiled victoriously, then chuckled. I joined along with him.

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><p>wow. the 20 chapter mark. o.o chapters add up fast. got this up quick cause of early release day. woo! ^^ all the cat parts in here are basically what my cat did to me. she just looks at me like 'give me food. thats all i care for. food. do you know what food is?' im just listening to some Tokio Hotel, amazing. well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	21. Not Just Another Sunday

_Alice_

The last day of another weekend was here. Just another Sunday, with nothing to do. All the housework had been taken care of yesterday, no jobs to go to for either of us, and as usual nothing was on TV. I sighed. "Just another Sunday." Shun was sitting on the couch reading a magazine, when he raised an eyebrow at me. "That would make a good title for a song." I rolled my eyes.

"Everything sounds like a good song title to you." He flipped a page in the magazine and said, "Not everything. Here, like this. Who would want to listen to a song called _'Best Facial Cream'_? I know I sure wouldn't." His finger was pointing to an ad, and sure enough that's what was written on the page. "I guess you're right. That wouldn't be very popular." He went back to reading an article. I didn't know what magazine it was, but guessed it may have been a _People_ magazine. We had a tone of them laying around the house.

They weren't for me though. My grandfather may of not seemed like the type, but he was a huge gossip hound. I always found it funny. Why would anybody want to know about another celebrities' business? _People go crazy about the stupidest things. Like I'd care if these two people show up with the same dress on, but one wore it better._ _It doesn't affect my daily life. I can go on with a normal day with, or without, knowing that._

"I'm happy that damn cat is gone." It was something unexpected for Shun to say, but I knew it was a matter of time. We had found the owners of the cat yesterday, and they came about an hour earlier and took him back home. They had brought their little daughter, who looked about six and had blonde hair, with them. When she saw the cat, her face lit up and she scooped him up.

Happy to have her friend back. The owners thanked us for finding him, and went on their way. "You know you liked him." Shun shook his head in disagreement. "No. I never liked that cat, nor will I ever like him. Not now, not ever." For some reason, I looked upstairs at the little balcony that looked over the living room for the hallway. I never paid much attention to the iron railing, and saw that there was a pattern in it. Bent and twisted pieces of metal, with flowers stemming off from them. It had been ages since either me, or Shun, had been up there.

It seemed like such a long way from the living room, when it wasn't a long distance at all. We basically abandoned the upstairs now. There was no need to go up there. Everything we really needed was downstairs. Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and so forth. We only went upstairs on days we cleaned. Just because we didn't go up there anymore, doesn't mean we should let it dissolve away.

But many memories floated in those rooms. Too many to count. I found myself walking up those carpeted steps. My bare feet sensing the familiar place. My hand held on loosely to the arm rail, and I picked one foot up at a time. There were old and forgotten pictures hung on the wall leading up the stairs. Pictures of people I didn't know, places I have never been, stories I had never heard.

They were all memories of my grandfather', and I had never thought to ask or mention the pictures to him because I never really noticed. _Too late to ask now._ Some of the pictures were absolutely beautiful. Large pine forests, covered in white snow. Rolling hills, high enough to touch the sky above them to where you could tell where it ended and began. And sparkling blue oceans, with the water the bluest form of blue known to the world. I wished I knew where these places were. _I'd love to go see them one day. I bet they'd be gorgeous in person._ It seemed to take me a lifetime to get to the top of the stairs because I spent it all on looking at those photos. My hand found the light switch, and flicked it onto the on position.

The hall burst into the world, and it looked the same as we left it last time we cleaned up here. All the doors to rooms were closed tightly. Doors to bedrooms, bathrooms, and even closets. There was a lone window to my left, and it showed the sun vanishing. Only for it to appear on the other side of the world and tell other people to wake up and start their day. Just for us to end ours. Dust clung to the windowsill, and I gave myself a mental note to go up here late and clean up a bit. _It's due for a cleaning up here anyway._ The only rooms that weren't on the left of the hall, was a closet/storeroom on the very end, and my grandfather's room to the right of it.

My old room, and the guest room where Shun stayed in for a while, was to the left. They were both visible from the downstairs living room. I began walking down the hall, passing the guest room, and then stopping at mine. I opened the door and turned the light on as well.

The room was barren. The bed had no sheets or blankets on it, the desk where I used to do homework had all its old contents whisked away and put into the room downstairs. All my dressers where I kept my clothes were now empty. Everything in them was also moved into the downstairs bedroom. The only color in the room, were the walls. They were still painted a light purple, but any pictures I had hung up had been taken down. Without all my belongings, the room seemed much bigger.

I remembered it always seeming cramped, and never having enough room to put new things into the room. There weren't any memories of me and Shun in this room. Only memories of thinking about him, or the last big fight we had that pushed him out of the house. But that was right around the time I was pregnant, and neither of us knew about it yet. I turned off the light, making the room shut down again after giving its few minutes of life. Once I closed the door, I didn't bother going into my grandfather's old room.

There was only one moment I had with Shun in there, and it was when he was showing me a guitar that my grandmother had when she was still alive. There were too many memories of my and my grandfather, that I wanted to relive, but just couldn't.

It would cause just a little too much grief. It was always one thing to have a spur of the moment and think back to something he may of done or said, but being around the personification of his life was too much. I began walking back towards the stairs, and halted at the guest room. The one we had allowed Shun to stay in when we found him. I stared at the door, already seeing every minute, every moment we spent and had together in there.

I didn't need the door open to relive them, but I wanted the door open. Once with the light on, the room was the same as mine. Empty. Everything was in the same place. All the dressers, nightstands, and bed. But it all looked uninhabited. The bed, like mine, had nothing on it. And any drawers were empty as well. I smiled when I thought to all those nights where we were cuddled up next to each other, just looking up at the ceiling and talking.

I stepped into the doorway, but didn't go any further. It was as if there was a barrier up. Maybe I felt overwhelmed at the change in the room, from what I remembered so many months ago. I looked over at the bed, then giggled as I remembered all the times Shun fell off when he would try and give me more room. I was sure there was a dent in the wood floor where he had landed all those times. I felt something snake around my waist. I glanced down and saw Shun's arm, then felt him press into my body.

"It looks so different." By the sound of his voice, I knew he was thinking about all the seconds of our lives spent in there. It felt like all of our life to me. He said smoothly, "It seemed like such a long time ago. That it was me and you laying there. And that I was being pushed off the bed when I said something stupid. We seemed so young and crazy then. Now it seems like we've grown up so much, that it's scary."

He was right. We joked and played around like any teenager you'd see in school or on the street. But with the news about the baby, it was like something flipped on in both of us, and we seemed to of both matured. We now rethought our choices, looked at the world in a new view, were more careful, and it was scary. How a person can change overnight. Neither of us may act like we used to once the baby was born. The baby would be our top priority, and that was how it worked.

There wouldn't be time to act childish and joke around. Not for a while at least. My stomach was warm where Shun's arm was still around me. The timbre of Shun's voice sounded in my ear. "Maybe, it wouldn't hurt, to relive that time once again. What do you think?" We both wanted that lost time again. We both wanted to lay there and talk, and for me to push him off the bed cause of something insignificant. _But would it be the same? Like he said, we've grown and matured. Would it just be a waste of time? Or would it be like it used to?_

"It's up to you, Alice." The want in my voice reminded me of the want in my mind. I leaned my head back at him and smiled. I took a step into the room, and it felt like going back in time. Everything was like it was all those months back. The same blankets were messed up from when we got out of bed last, shoes tossed in the corner, lights on, and belongings scattered throughout the room. I smiled brightly. This definitely wasn't a waste of time.

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><p>today was...different. to put it in simple terms. when you let a bunch of band kids loose in a fast food place, you should always expect the unexpected. even if that means tons of inside jokes, and insults to your ex-boyfriend. ;) he deserves em anyway. there is still a possibilty for an upload tomorrow. all depends on if i go to the fair or not (i dont have a game, thanks heavens). i noticed when i uploaded this, it was 1,800 words on the dot. i was like 'SWEET!' even if it isnt as much as i have uploaded in the past. oh well, live and learn and win epically. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	22. Pillow Fight

_Shun_

I sat behind the counter at the music store, dabbing a napkin, from my leftover lunch, with a blue pen I had found. I was focusing on the ink bleeding into the paper napkin. I found the wall clock, and smiled. Alice would be getting off of work soon. Snake came through the door to the storage room and looked at me. "You've been in a good mood all day, Sparky. It's kind of unnatural." His comment didn't deter me. "Guess I just had a good night's rest." He nodded his head, acting as if he believed what I said. "Uh-huh. I'm not stupid. I know what you and your girl are up to."

I felt myself blush slightly at the thought, and he then smirked. "Ha! You're blushing! I was right!" I popped the cap back onto the blue ink pen, then threw it at his direction. Snake dodged it to the side and laughed. "Calm down, Sparky. Hey, doesn't your girl get off work soon?"

He was spinning one of those blank CD's, the ones people used to burn things onto off the computer, that was tied to an invisible fishing line from the ceiling. There were more just like that one hung from the grayish, white squares. "Yeah. She'll be here in a little bit." I moved my blue inked napkin over a little, and saw the ink had seeped all the way through and onto the counter. I knew it wouldn't be noticed, but I went ahead and licked the tip of my thumb and wiped it away so it wouldn't bug me. It was a slow business day so far, but there were still many work hours left for things to pick up.

Even though they usually didn't. _Always stay optimistic._ I stared at an apple that came with my lunch as it sat on the edge of the counter. Snake saw it too, and asked, "Hey, Sparky. You gunna eat that? I didn't have lunch." I shrugged and let him have it. "Thanks." He swiped the apple off the counter, and rolled it from one hand, over his shoulders, and into his other hand.

Then he took a bite. "Was all that really necessary?" Snake wiped away a line of apple juice off his chin and said, "Did it make you feel inferior to my mad skills?" I laughed. "What skills?" He shrugged, half the eaten apple still in his hand, and said, "It was still epic though. So, when is your girl's baby due anyway?"

Even though I wasn't moving, I felt like I had just stopped walking. Neither of us told him about Alice being pregnant. _He couldn't of seen her stomach cause she's been wearing those dresses and they hide the bump. _"Sheesh, Sparky. You act like you didn't know yourself. I told ya, I ain't stupid. I have two eyes that let me see. Besides, you don't have to be a rocket scientists to of figured it out."

He had taken the last bite out of the apple, and fixed his eyes on a small trashcan that was at least twenty feet from him. He flicked his wrist, and the apple flew into the can. "Booyah!" I stared at where the apple went in at, then shook my head. "You know it would have been easier to walk over there and throw it away." Snake laid back on the couch and said, "It May have been easier, but it wouldn't of been as fun. You still haven't answered my question."

My foot was under the counter, tapping to the beat of a song playing over the speakers. "I'm not entirely sure. Alice may know. She'd be the one to ask. Not me." Snake nodded his head, and grabbed one of the pillows on the couch and started throwing it up in the air and catching it as it came back down. It would spin as it went up, and down. I waited for him to misjudge when to catch it, and for the pillow to hit him in the face.

My diligent waiting paid off. His hands missed it, and he closed his eyes as the pillow hit him. It then rolled off, and onto the floor. Snake's face was still scrunched up. I began laughing, he then threw me an obscene gesture, but I didn't care. The tiny golden bell over the door dinged, and Alice walked in. I smiled at her and walked around the counter and stood in front of her.

"Hey. Finally got off of work?" I kissed her on her lips, only for a few seconds before parting. "Traffic was insane when I got off. It's almost like all of Moscow just decided to go down that road." I chuckled, then we both turned to Snake, who was making gagging noises. "You two are just too sweet to be around. I think I'm getting a cavity from just thinking about you two." I rolled my eyes and told him, "Quit being a drama queen." I turned back to Alice, and felt something hit me in the back. I saw the pillow that Snake was tossing up in the air, now laying on the floor.

"That's for calling me a drama queen, Sparky." I scooped it back up and threw it back at him. His arms flew up to block the pillow. Alice stepped between us and said, "Ok. The pillow fight ends now before something gets broken. And I don't mean the store." It was a good thing she did break us up, cause I was sure we would be the only people on the planet to get sent to the hospital for pillow injuries. "This ain't over, Sparky. I'll get ya when ya least expect it." I pretended to act scared.

Just because I stopped my ninja training, didn't mean that I wasn't able to hear somebody trying to sneak up on me. That was how I always got the upper hand on Dan most of the time. I thought back to a couple years back when he set up some kind of water balloon trap meant for me, and it ended up backfiring on him. I smiled at the memory of Dan covered in popped water balloons and dripping wet, while I stood there laughing at his failure. He did get me back though. It was a lame joke though.

And somehow it still kind of backfired on him. He only got caught in the crossfire. It was the toss flour on somebody trick, and he spilt just as much flour as he got on me. Safe to say though, he had several bruises on his body. I returned back behind the counter and sat on the black rotating stool. That after a whole day of sitting on it, started to kill your back. Sitting up straight for a second or two felt good as I heard my back pop several times. I found the blue ink pen halfway under the couch, and halfway exposing itself to everyone. I saw a figure move past the huge storefront window, and a lady walked past it, holding huge bags from stores a few blocks down.

I wondered how anybody could buy so much in one day, and I also wondered what she was going to do with it. In the end, she'd probably only wear two or three of the outfits she bought, while the rest are worn once and tossed in the back of a closet. Never to be seen again. I looked over on the couch, and saw Alice and Snake talking. I focused on their conversation, and figured out they were talking about the baby.

He had asked her all we knew so far, and she told him just how far along she was. Which was all we knew. We decided to wait for when the baby was born to see if it was a girl or boy. And we didn't really have a clear estimate around what time she was due. I propped myself up on my elbows, resting them on the counter. I moved my hand over to a pencil cup, that held several pens, pencils, paperclips, and a pair of scissors.

I grabbed the scissors, and one of the business cards that were sitting in a little holder for people to take. I cut the card into six or seven large pieces, that slid them back together like a puzzle. The name, even though the card was put back together correctly, was unclear where the scissors cut through it. It was no longer perfect. There were defects now. I always liked looking around in here when I was bored. Something always had seemed to change, and for a while I started thinking maybe Snake moved stuff around in his free time.

New magazines were stocked up. Everything from _The Rolling Stones_ to anything else keeping up with current, and not so current, musicians and bands. I heard a light tapping, and I turned to see Snake had found a set of drumsticks, and was beating rhythms on his leg. "And he plays drums too." He smiled and said, "You don't have to much talent to do this. Anyone can, as long as you can keep a beat."

Alice must of found the tapping annoying, because she moved over to the stool behind the counter where I was sitting. She was slowly getting used to Snake, but it took her longer than me. But I have to work around him five days a week as well. So, I don't have much of a choice. Snake's foot was patting, as if there were a bass drum there, while his hands moved to an invisible drum set in front of him. The thing is, if you focused enough you would be tricked into thinking he really was playing something.

But when you didn't, all you saw was him hitting his leg with the sticks. It was his drum solo time, and he was just getting started when one of the sticks flew from his hand, and somewhere into the store. We were all quiet, and only stared at each other. I knew Alice was thinking he was an idiot, Snake was thinking _oh crap,_ while I didn't know what to think. Snake slowly stood up and walked over to the direction that the stick went. I saw him duck behind one of the rows of CD's, and then pop back up with the stick held high above his head in his hand.

"Found it!" Alice was shaking her head while reading a magazine she took from the rack. I grinned at her again, even though she had no idea I was. Snake put the sticks back where he found them and said, "I think this is a sign that I should stay with guitar." Alice then chimed in a said, "No, it's a sign that you're an idiot."

He acted like the comment hurt, and then laid down on the ground like he was dying. "Your words are killing me. I see a light. Good-bye world. Ack!" He let his tongue hang out and made his eyes go up a little. The whole scene was quite comical. Alice only shook her head in shame to even know him. "Get up you spaz." He sat up and started laughing, while Alice insulted him under her breath, while I was laughing at both of them.

* * *

><p>today went by fast. 0.0 oh well, at least it's FRIDAY! i just read a kinda funny fanfiction. i think it was called <em>Your a WHAT now?<em> i cant remember. it's a shunxalice, and it's pretty funny. im reading this epic book called _Matched. _if you like _The Hunger Games_ then i recomend it highly. well, i think that's it. read, review, and other things! ~Copperpelt~


	23. Books On A Shelf

_Alice_

I walked down the street from the music store. It was one of my days when I didn't have work. I would have to work tomorrow, and Friday. But Tuesdays and Thursdays were my days off. Plus the weekends. I walked past Mel's Book Store. I had spent many days there when I was younger, looking through romance novels and wondering if a guy would sweep me off my feet like they did to the main character. I knew in real life, relationships weren't as perfect as they were in books, but it was nice to imagine they were. The closest a guy ever came to sweeping me off my feet, was eight years ago during the whole Masquerade fiasco.

Klaus Von Hurston. He was nice in my time of need, and even seemed to be like a prince from time to time. But I never went out with him. Klaus may have been nice and kind, but he wasn't my prince charming. Maybe somebody else's, but not mine. Shun was the one I was in love with, and even though he may of not done some suave move like in the romance novels to win my heart, he didn't need to.

I had always had feelings for him. I guess you could say it really was love at first sight. I decided to go into the book store for the heck of it. The building smelled of new, and old books. There were more shelves in here from the last time I was here, and I then realized they knocked the wall out from the building next door. I didn't remember what was next to this place. It May have been a boutique or something like that. I scanned the shelves, looking at all the books. _So many words to be read. So many other peoples' lives and experiences to imagine. So many new escapes from reality._

A guy, who I had never seen here, was sitting at the register reading a book of his own. He wore the store's shirt, which was a navy blue polo with the name on the left side in small letters. He didn't even seem to know I was here. He was so deep in his book, that nothing would bring him out of his trance. The only thing that could probably break it would be himself.

I had done that many times myself. I sat in my room or the living room, with several books at a time. I'd read three or four chapters in one book, and three or four in another. And I'd keep rotating between those books for hours. The stories never jumbled up either. My grandfather would tell me that I'd fall into one of the books, and that he'd never be able to pull me out.

I always smiled at him when he said that, and told him I wish I could go into the story. Live that perfect life made by another person, who probably projected what they wanted the world to be like onto paper. There was a point in time, when I wanted to be an author myself. When I wasn't reading or doing schoolwork, I would sit down at my desk or outside and write in a spiral bound notebook I had. It was overflowing with loose papers from where I ran out in the book itself.

They were short stories, long short stories as my grandfather would say. I had forgotten what happened to my notebook of stories. It had been lost for several years, and whenever I thought about it I wanted to run into the house and flip everything upside down to find it. I could of left it anywhere. I may have been writing in the park, and left it there on a bench or under a tree. Or I may of left it at school on my desk and somebody took it and threw it away. I'd never know. I looked at the little one dollar bookmarks they had stuck up on a spinning rack in mass quantities. I thought about how this would be a peaceful place to work, but it was always too quiet and never got much business.

The music store where Shun worked didn't get much business either, but it was nowhere nearly as quiet as this. This was almost too quiet for my liking. Besides, I liked being around Shun and Snake when they'd brainstorm ideas on guitars, or when Snake would say something and Shun would retort back. As much as I liked it in this store, I liked spending my days off with them. I picked up two books, both romance novels, and dropped them on the flat surface of the register. The guy who was reading, looked up from his book and at me. He seemed slightly annoyed that I interrupted his reading.

_He must have been getting to a good part._ He scanned my two books and put them in bags, then told me to have a nice day. He had already gone back to his book before I could thank him. _I guess every store has a version of Snake._ My books hit against my leg in the plastic bag, and the plastic would rattle in the wind. This street was well known to be really windy. I was walking towards the wind, so my hair was blowing away from my face. The sky had a few fluffy, white clouds against the baby blue surface. It was the only kind of sky you could get on a lovely summer day.

The autumn weather would start appearing later, as the air started growing cooler, and night came faster. I passed by a little family owned bakery, and inhaled the aroma of what smelled like freshly baked bread. I had never been in there, but grandfather used to bring home cinnamon rolls and cakes from there. They were always so delicious. Especially when they were still warm.

My mouth recalled what my mind what remembering, and I tasted the sweet baked goods. I was almost tempted to go in there and buy some. _Nah. I'll go another day. Maybe this weekend._ I forced my legs to walk away from the sweet smells. I stopped at a crosswalk, and waited for the little light to change from a hand telling me not to walk. The music store was only a few more shops past here, and the crosswalk was the only thing stopping me from going there.

The last car zoomed by, and the signal popped on telling me to go. I hurried across the street and made it to the other side safely. I never like crossing those things. You never knew when some drunk maniac decides to run a red light when you're walking across the street. I was now at the outside of the music store. I peeked into the big window that took up the entire wall. I looked around a poster that was taped up there and saw Snake on the couch with a guitar, and Shun behind the register.

They were both talking, then started laughing. I smiled. I like seeing Shun like this. He turned and saw me out the window and smiled, then raised his hand and waved at me. I waved back at him and entered the store. I could hear them talking now. No longer were there words and laughter muted by the glass of the window. Shun saw the plastic bag in my hand. "What ya got in the bag?"

Snake then chimed in and said sarcastically, "You two don't know when to stop. Do ya?" He winked at me and Shun stepped in. "And you don't know when to stop being a pervert. Do you?" I then caught what Snake was referring to, and blushed. "It's just some books. I stopped by Mel's and looked around for a little bit." I dug out one of the books and showed them.

It was a paperback, and as much as I hated bending the cover, they were much cheaper than the hardcover. I remembered times when I'd wait for months to get the paperback cause I didn't want to the buy the hardcover. It was like waiting for a movie to come on HBO instead of buying it on DVD or going to the theater. I put the book back into my bag, and Shun held out his hand and said, "Here. Let me put it behind the counter." He took the bag and put it somewhere next to him. Probably on the stool.

Snake had mixed it up now He had an electric guitar in his hands, but no amp hooked to it. _Thank goodness._ Shun asked him, "What are you playing? Cause that sounds really familiar." The faint sounds of metal strings being picked sounded from the guitar. "It's Fall Of Troy's F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X. Just to let you know, I have no clue what it stands for. But it has the most amazing solo in the world. In my opinion."

Snake may of not been educated in anything else, but he knew his music. Shun then said, "I thought that's what it sounded like. I haven't listened to that group in years, but you're right about the solo. It was pretty epic." I felt out of place. I wasn't one big into music. Yeah, I had a few bands I listened to, but that was all I knew. Two or three bands. Not like these two, who probably knew everything about every band in existence. I glanced up at the clock. Shun had an hour or so left till he got off work.

_I can start on my book and get a good ways in it._ "Hey, Shun. Can you hand me the red book in my bag?" He bent over behind the counter and pulled out the red, almost maroon paperback book. I took it from him and sat down on the couch, next to Snake. Only because that was the only other place to sit. I started reading, and felt Snake move over to me and look over my shoulder.

I told him, "It's not nice to read over somebody's shoulder." He did a quick, short laugh. "I was reading. I was scanning. How can you read that sappy romance stuff anyway?" I shrugged, now understanding why that clerk at the book store look annoyed when I disturbed his reading.

I never had somebody interrupt my reading before. And I didn't like it. I heard Shun say, "Dude, just let her read. Go back to your guitar." I thanked Shun, and Snake did just as he asked him to. _Maybe I should of waited till I got home to read._

* * *

><p>omg. i missed the episode of mechtanium surge this morning. i would try and catch it again, but i'm leaving in like ten minutes. beh. im listening to Falling In Reverse. omg! ima going to the fair tomorrow! yay! lol. well, i think that's it. bye for now. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	24. Dream State

_Dan_

I looked out the window of Runo's Family's café. It was clouded over, warning about a possible coming rain. Runo was carrying an order to a customer, then walked over to me. "Everything alright, Dan?" I smiled at her and said, "Yeah. Just thinking about how Shun and Alice are holding up.

It's been awhile since we heard from them." It had been. Last time we saw them, we had thrown a surprise party for Shun cause he had just gotten out of the hospital. But we had to leave the very next day. I was sure they were doing fine, but unexpected things could happen.

Just like when he got sick. Nobody predicted that would of happened. Runo sat across from me in the booth, and sat down two glasses of water. One for me, one for her. "Thanks, Runo." I wasn't really thirsty, so I took a small sip so she wouldn't get angry. Runo had a horrid temper at times. "Dan, they're doing fine. Quit worrying so much." I stuck my finger into the ice water, and stirred it around till my finger got too numb. "I know. I know. I do worry too much. But only because they're my friends."

Runo understood. Her and Alice were the best of friends. Even better friends than her and Julie. _But Julie doesn't know that. Might be better if it stays that way._ Runo saw the wind pick up outside. "Looks like the bottom is going to fall out of the clouds soon. How about my mom gives you a ride home, Dan?" I put my hand up and told her, "Nah. Thanks for the offer, but I don't mind a little rain."

The door then swung open, and Murucho and Julie hurried over to us. "Whoa, Murucho. Chill. What's the rush?" They were both panting from their run. Murucho then stood up straight and said between breathes, "We ran so we wouldn't miss you guys. We got a call today." I immediately thought of Shun and Alice. _What if something's happened?_ I stood up and said, "Who was it from?" He pulled out his little blue BakuPod and showed me. "It was from Neathia."

_Shun_

I knew I was dreaming. I was leaning against a large pine or oak tree. I couldn't really tell. And I was looking out over a beautiful lake, while the sun vanished behind the trees on the other side. It sort of reminded me of the lake behind Alice's house. The one that was deep in the woods. But this lake was much larger in scale, and more trees surrounded it. I sighed contently as I finished enjoying the sight.

I turned and saw a girl sitting down, looking out in the lake like I was. She looked familiar, but I couldn't tell because her back was kind of facing me and I could only make out her profile. The little sunlight that was left was making it difficult to see clearly with the growing darkness.

It was as if the sun then dropped out of the sky, and the world quickly turned dark in a matter of seconds. Fireflies floated around us, giving us little light. The lake showed their reflection, and made it look like billions were flying around. The girl had stood up now. She was a little on the short side from what I could tell. Now in the dark, all I could see her silhouette. I could tell she was walking towards me. _It's not Alice. The hair is too short to be hers._ As she got closer to me, I knew who it was. _Fabia._

_Dan_

"Seriously? Fabia's coming for a visit?" Runo was making sure she heard Murucho correctly. _I know what she's doing. She's trying to set things straight with Shun. But why now? Why not right after their fight?_ I didn't really like Fabia after how she hurt Shun. She may of not known everything Shun's gone through in his life, none of us really do, but her cheating on him was uncalled for.

He didn't deserve that. I recalled Shun was there for her whenever she needed him. All of us thought they were a match made in heaven. But even heaven has its mix-ups. But if she hadn't done what she did, then Shun may of not of found Alice. Heck, if they never had their fight, they may of still be together right now. That is, if Shun never found out that Fabia and Linus were engaged.

Fabia had told me before she came clean with Shun, that her sister Serena said Linus seemed like a good suitor for her, but she wanted to stay with Shun. That could have been a lie in itself though. Murucho's cell rang. "Hello? Oh, hi Kato. She is? Ok, we'll be there in a minute." He clicked his phone shut and said, "Fabia just arrived at my place." _Now lets see how much she's changed._

_Shun_

_Why did I have a dream about her, after everything she did to me?_ I was sitting upright in the bed, and looked at Alice, who was still sleeping next to me. She moved a little closer to me. I placed my hand on the top of her orange hair and brushed back to stray hairs that covered her face. _Why did I have a dream about her?_ That question was gnawing away at my insides.

I was tired, but didn't want to go back to sleep. Due to the worry that I'd have that dream ago. I thought back to all the pain Fabia caused me. _She cheated on me. And I don't even know if Linus knows about that yet._ I remembered she told me about some kind of argument she had with her sister several months before she told me the truth. Serena had told her that she believed that Linus would of made a good fiancé for her, but Fabia told her she didn't really want to marry him.

_Maybe she didn't mean to cheat on me. Maybe it was all set up by her sister. What am I saying? What she did was unforgivable. But then why is it bothering me so much that I don't know?_ I looked back at Alice. My new life was laying right next to me. Cause of Fabia, I had Alice now. _Why do I keep thinking about her? Even when she isn't here, she causes me grief._ I laid down on my back, and grew drowsy. Whenever I closed my eyes, I felt that dream circling around me. Just like a predator, and my sanity was its prey.

My phone then rang. I reached for it quickly, and took it from the nightstand. I had forgotten to charge it when I went to bed, so my battery was almost dead. Alice didn't even stir, and for a minute I envied her that she wasn't being plagued by an old memory. I answered the phone in the hallway, so in case she did wake up she wouldn't hear my conversation. "Hello?" Dan was on the other end of the line.

"Hey, buddy. I hope I didn't wake you up or anything." Dan sounded very mellow. Considering it was Dan. "No, you didn't wake me up. I was already kind of up. What you need?" I rubbed the sleep from my eye. I was still in the hallway, and my tired body didn't want to stand anymore. I leaned against the wall and slid down, sitting at the base of the floorboard. "I have something to tell you, Shun. Fabia's here."

It didn't surprise me. "Why is she here?" My head hurt from sleep, and my stomach felt like I had just been punched. "She's here to talk to you. She wants to set everything straight with you." I only looked a the wall in front of me. I felt anger swell up in me. _Set things straight? Kind of late for that. Why did you pick now?_ "Tell her I'm not interested in her lies." Dan sounded like he chuckled a little.

"I knew you'd say that. And I tried to tell her you wouldn't want to hear it, but she won't take no for an answer." This was why I was friends with Dan. He may be a complete idiot 90% of the time, but he understands his friends better than they understand themselves sometimes. I sighed.

"When should I expect to hear from her?" I thought I heard Alice stir in our room for a minute. "I'm not sure. I'll call or text you when I know." I was positive that I heard Alice this time. "Kay. Thanks for the warning, Dan." He laughed and said, "Anytime, pal." We both hung up, and Alice then stepped into the hallway where I was.

She saw me sitting on the floor. "Shun? What are you doing? Are you hurt?" She knelt down beside me and started going all doctor on me. I made her stop and said, "I'm fine, Alice. Dan just called me to tell me something and I didn't want to wake you up with our conversation."

I stood up, wobbling a little from my drowsiness. "I think I'm going to go for a little walk outside. You should go back to sleep." She protested a little, but I eventually won. I was now outside, and stepped into the dark forest. It wasn't easy for me to see when a brier was on the ground, or a stick, so I was tripping every now and then.

I stopped at the lake that was in the center of the forest. Fireflies danced around me and the water. I knew this wasn't a dream. This was real. But I still expected Fabia to walk towards me like in my dream. But I was alone.

* * *

><p>i realized something. if i kept adding chapters to Broken Bones, then the story would be a whopping 65 chapters. 0.0 like a whole dang novel. X3 yay! i get to go to the state fair today! and wear my amazingly amazing fox hat! XD lol. well, i think thats it. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	25. Something Lost And Something Gained

_Shun_

I didn't go into work the next day. When Alice dropped me off at the music store, I didn't go in. I waited for her to round the corner so she couldn't see me. Once she was out of my sight, I headed for the park, where I agreed to meet up with Fabia. Dan texted me later that morning, telling me that she would be there sometime in the afternoon. Which was later set up to be at twelve on the dot.

Alice would still be at work while I was at the park. I didn't want to do this. I didn't want to confront this part of my past. I'd confront any other part, except this. The ghost of that dream from last night still lingered in my mind, and would pop up in my mind again. Replaying the dream like a broken record. Every part of that dream felt alive in my senses. From the feeling of the air temperature, the smell of the evergreen trees, and sound of the waves crashing against the rocks next to the lake. All of it was still fresh to me.

Like I had just walked from that world. My stomach was turning flips with not wanting. Like when you didn't want to go to school, and your stomach would suddenly begin hurting. And when you got home, you'd miraculously get better the minute you went through the door.

A bank across the street had a digital sign outside, and it flashed the temperature in red lights. The sign read that it was a comfortable 76, but to me it felt like somebody set the world on fire. I was slowly approaching the park. I could hear the sounds of children laughing and screaming, and parents yelling at them to stay near them or to not put something in their mouths. A kid was near the old metal swings, throwing a tennis ball for him little dog.

I stopped and watched the bright green ball roll to my feet. Both the boy and his dog stopped playing at looked at me from afar. I bent over and tossed the ball back at them. The boy missed the catch, and the dog ran after it once it hit the ground. The two of them resumed their game of fetch, and I continued on my way. I was nearing the bench under a large oak tree, where we agreed to set up our 'meeting', if you could call it that. The bench was on the other side of the tree, so I couldn't tell if Fabia was sitting there or not.

I walked around the tree, and saw her. I suppressed a growl from my throat when I saw her. Fabia saw me standing there. It reminded me of our first meeting. She had challenged Dan to a brawl and after she lost, she ran off. It was easy to track her down. I didn't believe she the enemy, but all this time she was mine and I didn't even know it. She was the one wanting to cause me harm, and I let her. "Shun. I was beginning to think you weren't going to show." Her voice was soft, but that didn't calm the fire raging in me.

Fabia was now standing. She had changed a lot since I had last seen her. She was taller, her hair was longer, but she was still the same on the inside. _I wonder how much I've changed since she last saw me._ She did a slight grin and said, "You're looking great, Shun. Alice must be treating you well."

_Apparently Dan and the others didn't tell her about Alice's baby. Good. I wouldn't want her to know anyway._ I didn't like her trying to talk to me like nothing ever happened between us. Like we were friends still. _Were we even ever friends?_ I could see this was difficult for her to try and find a decent place to start this on.

I wanted to make it as difficult as I possibly could. "Shun, I don't blame you if you still hate me. But at least talk or say something to me." _She wants me to say something? _"Ok. I'll say something. Do you know how much trouble you've caused me? Or all the mental stress I had to overcome to make some sense of what you did? Fabia, how could you just play with me like I was some toy? No, I take that back. Not how, but _why?_ What kind of sick enjoyment did you get out of it?"

She was biting her lower lip, a act that reminded me of Alice when she was thinking. "Shun, I didn't mean for any of that to happen. No, I don't know what kind of pain it caused you, and I wish I did. That would be fair if I felt what you did. I didn't get any sick enjoyment from doing what I did."

She sat back down on the bench, already looking exhausted from an argument that just started. "Shun, I told you I was with Linus because I couldn't bare to hide it from you. When I told you, I went against my sister's wishes. She just wanted me to end things with you, without telling you the truth. I never wanted to be with Linus. I wanted to be with you. I still want to be with you, but that cant happen now. Serena never wanted me to be with you from the start. She said being with somebody from Earth would only bring trouble to Neathia. I didn't care what she said. But when she forced me and Linus to marry, I had no choice. Shun, do you believe me?"

_Do I? This could just be another lie._ My legs grew tired of standing, and I reluctantly sat next to Fabia on the bench. "You said earlier that you wished to know what I went through, am I correct?" She nodded her head. "Yeah. And I do. It would only be fair, that I suffer the same pain as you did." People walking through the park didn't pay us any attention as we talked. They just assumed we were two teens talking about nothing important. I didn't mind. It wasn't any of their business anyway.

"I froze, cried, and felt pain like I hadn't felt in a long time. I dealt with the reality that somebody could do something so awful to another person." Fabia was beginning to look extremely guilty. "But, I found truth. I found real love, and a person true to their words. And it's all cause of you." She didn't say anything for a long time. I held a steady gaze at her. One that she'd meet every time she looked up at me. A gaze that made her head turn away in shame for what she did, and what she lost.

"I do believe you though, but I don't forgive you. I may forgive you later on, but it may be a long time for now. Trust is a hard thing to regain back from somebody. Especially somebody you hurt with harsh lies like your's." I stood up from the bench, and took one last look at her. "I understand, Shun. I'm really sorry. I truly am. I just wanted to let you hear my side of the story, and I hear your's. I guess I better get going. Kato was nice enough to fly me out here quickly. Bye." I was about to walk away, when she stopped me.

"Shun! Wait! I almost forgot." _What does she want now?_ She reached into her pocket and pulled out a long silver chain with a heart shaped locket on the end. "You dropped it out in the snow when you ran off all those months ago." She lowered it in my hand. The heart hit first, and the chain then circled around it. It was a locket my mother had before she died. "I thought I lost this either in the cabin or in the forest."

I stared at the silver charm, then opened it up to see the same pictures that were always in there. There was one of my mother when she was younger, and one of her and me when I was maybe five or so. I had only thought about the locket after Murucho and the others went back to Bay City, but never thought to go there and check.

I looked up at the locket and said, "Thanks." Fabia was gone though. She had left while I was looking the necklace over. I sat back down on the bench and closed the heart back up. I sat there, looking at my mother's name inscribed on the front in a smooth cursive. The letters were bordered by silver roses and thorns. It was her favorite necklace. I thought about all the times she wore it. Even when she was in the hospital. The memories cause a tear to swell up in my eye, and roll down my cheek. I was really glad to have it back in my possession.

_Alice_

I left out of the grocery store and turned my car onto the road. We had repaired the shattered back window from when one of Snake's friends went haywire and went shooting down the street in his car with a few other buddies. I parked the car in front of the music store, and walked inside.

I was expecting Shun to be behind the counter as usual, but Snake was in his place. "Where's Shun?" Snake shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sparky never showed today. I assumed he was sick or something. Guess that disproves my theory. I didn't think he was one to play hooky." I was worried. I dropped him off at the store at the usual time. _What if something happened to him?_ I had just pulled out my phone to call his, when he walked into the store. "Sorry, Snake. I had to run a small errand before work."

Snake made a _pfft _noise and said, "Small? It took most of your damn work day. Do you know how busy this place has been? We've had the most work today than we've had all month. Just to let you know, you're not getting paid for today, Sparky. Next time, think before you run off and ditch work. You don't see me doing what you did, do ya? Huh? Answer me, Sparky."

Shun walked over to the couch and sat down, never saying a word to either of us. I noticed his cheeks looked stained from tears. "Shun, have you been crying?" I felt very concerned then. "Hey! Earth to Sparky! You still haven't answered my damn question!" Shun eyes narrowed at him. "Yes I heard you! No, I don't see you doing anything else but sitting here playing on a damn guitar and flirting with my girlfriend! Now I suggest you shut up!"

He stood up quickly and swung the door open, causing the bell to ding loudly. Snake stood there in shock, then said, "You can come back when you get off your high horse! Till then I don't want to see you in this shop! And I'm telling the boss that too!" I ignored Snake, and ran out of the store, trying to catch Shun. "Shun! Wait up!" I looked both ways on the sidewalk for him. No sign of him. I ran my hand through my orange hair and bit my lower lip. _Shun, where'd you go?_

I could hear Snake swearing loudly about Shun's stunt. I walked back in the store to retrieve my purse. "Your boyfriend needs to get over himself." That was the last straw. I connected the palm of my hand to his face. A echoed smack sound reverberated throughout the store. "No, Snake, _you_ get over yourself right now and help find Shun! Because the reason he just left was partly because of you! Now call your boss and tell him an emergency just came up and you have to close up shop!"

He was rubbing the red spot on his face. I was never one to slap a person. The last person I hit out of anger was Lync. I felt my face heat up from my anger. Snake sighed and said reluctantly, "Fine. I'll help find the emo kid on the loose. But don't expect any more favors from." I slung my purse over my shoulder and left out the door with Snake behind me.

* * *

><p>ok, just to clarify, i respect all reviews and such, but don't go complaining about somebody's story or whatever just cause YOU, one person, doesnt like it. if you read the whole story and in the end say you didnt like it, well that's your damage. you didnt have to read it from the start. you could of stopped reading it at any point in time. and being saracastic or something like that isnt going to bother me, so take it somewhere else please. if you cant say anything nice, then dont say anything at all. critic is always welcome, but being a complete butt about something won't get you anywhere. i respect your opinions and such, but sarcasm is only allowed in the stories. thank you very much. (this isnt really intended to anyone, just anyone who does this. if you read a chapter or two of a story and see you dont like it, dont read the whole thing to complain about it.) thanks. Read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	26. Pushed Over The Edge

_Alice_

This was why I hated Shun being a ninja; he could cover a lot of ground in a short matter of time. Snake and I searched down the streets, occasionally asking people if they may of seen him go by. I had no clue why Shun was in the emotional state he was when he showed up in the store, but I knew that Snake's snide remarks didn't help the cause. We both stopped and asked a young couple if they had seen him go by.

Yet again, another no. I heard Snake sigh behind me. I turned to face him and asked, "What?" He had stuffed his hands into his pockets and said, "The sun's setting, and it'll be dark soon. This part of town has been getting more dangerous everyday, and I don't think we should be walking around here late at night. Besides, the halfway house I stay at has a 10 'o' clock curfew, and with all the increases in crime I think they'll probably shorten it soon."

I couldn't believe that Snake just wanted to give up searching for Shun. _It's partly his fault Shun ran off anyway._ "So you just want to give up and leave Shun out here? Where you're complaining about being too much crime?" He didn't seem to take my comment kindly. "I don't want to leave him out here, but I also don't want to be the reason my friend's girl gets hurt by some thugs on the street. Considering he still thinks of me as a friend. Besides, Shun can probably last a night out here. He seems street smart. More than I can say for myself."

The shooting that took out the back window of my car only a few days ago, replayed in my mind. Shun knew what to do, even if he had to think up something last minute. Every second made the sky grow darker, and all the criminals would emerge from their daytime slumber and prowl around the city. And Shun would probably be caught up in some part of it. "At least let's ask a few more people. Maybe they have seen, Shun." Snake nodded his head and walked with me down the sidewalk.

We asked anyone who would stop and give us their time. None of them had seen Shun. "Maybe Sparky took off into an ally. If he did that, then he could be anywhere in the city." I didn't think about that. I didn't want to think about it either. Thinking about Shun turning corners in a maze of buildings and getting lost, made me think of his running through the icy forests around my house.

Everything would look the same to him. Before he would know anything, Shun would be lost. I was sure of it. Snake pulled out his cellphone to check the time. "Come on. We better start heading back." I grabbed his wrist and stopped his from walking away.

"We still have some daylight left. We still have a chance to find him before nightfall." Snake jerked his wrist away from me, and movement that reminded me somewhat of Shun. "It'll be dark by the time we get back to the shop, ok? Sparky could also of gone back there, or to your house. What if he did go back to either one of those places and we didn't know? We could stay out here all night and end up getting shot or mugged. It's too dangerous to be out here."

He had a point, but I felt as though I should keep arguing. Keep fighting to find Shun. _But what if he is back at the store and sitting on the couch waiting for us to walk in?_ "It's too dangerous for Shun to be out here, Snake." He placed his hand on top of his red and black hair and sighed. "I'm aware of that. Please…..Just make this easier and come with me back to the music store."

I could hear the guilt in his voice. It reminded me of the guilt I felt when Dan and I accidentally kissed because I was so stressed out about Shun being in the hospital. "Fine." Snake thanked me and we started walking back the way we came. I didn't think we covered this much ground.

_Shun could of traveled all this way in less than an hour. It took us several just to get here. Then again, we were looking, not running._ I kept wishing for my phone to ring, and Shun would be on the other end telling me where he was. But that wouldn't happen. He had left his phone at the house earlier that morning because it was nearly dead from not being charged. Night had almost fallen when we got back to the store.

_Snake was right about saying it'd be dark when we got back._ I opened the door slowly, hearing the little bell, and looked around. Shun hadn't come back here. My only hope was he had gone back to the house. _Somehow. _

_Shun_

I didn't know where I was in this city, but all I knew was that I want to get away from it all. I turned onto another ally, each one looking just like the one before. I probably couldn't of found my way back the way I came, even if I tried. The lamps on the brick walls had all turned on, giving the dark allies some form of light. I had stopped running. My body was too tired to do it anymore.

But I was still walking. I wanted to get away. Away from the confrontation I had with Fabia hours ago, the words exchanged with me and Snake, and just reality itself. I stepped in a deep puddle of water, and the splash echoed against the walls. The water came up past my ankles, cold and bitter. Stinging me more and more the longer I stayed in it. There was no telling what was all in the dark water, and I didn't want to know. I looked at the water as it rippled from where I just stepped out of it.

The lamps turned the surface yellow like the light they produced. _I wonder if Alice is looking for me? She never even crossed my mind when I ran out from the store._ I felt guilty, thinking about how Alice was reacting to this. My hands were in my pockets, and my fingers held on tightly to my mother's necklace. I tightened my grip on the charm whenever I thought about what kind of drama this was putting on the orange haired girl. Up ahead of me, were two dark, crooked looking people.

I was apparently out of their sight, although I could see them clearly. I saw something exchange between their hands, and ducked behind a dumpster that was behind some kind of business. _It's a drug deal._ I knew that if they caught me, they probably wouldn't hesitate to do whatever they needed to make me be quiet. Whether I said I'd stay shut up or not. I peered out from behind the dumpster, careful to remain hidden. It wasn't them I was afraid of, it was whatever weapons they may have had on them, and how high they were right at the moment. I was able to tell that one had a rather large knife, while the other had a small hand pistol.

If they had no weapons, I would of easily been able to hold my own against them. But if I got into a fight with them and didn't take away their weapons quickly. _It would be game over for me._ It was too risky for me to go back down the ally I just came from because they may see me this go round. And I couldn't just walk right past them and hope they'd play me off as a side-effect of the drugs if they were on any.

_I'm going to have to wait here till they leave._ I leaned back behind the dumpster, but this time my heel caught a shard of glass from a bottle. I froze, and I heard one of the dealers say, "Hey, I think I heard something. Come on, let's check it out." Adrenaline pulsed through me. I scanned my area quickly. There wasn't anything for me to grab onto and scale up the sides of the walls.

And even if there were, the buildings were too tall. I'd only get so far, then fall. I heard a click, and knew that a gun had been cocked. _The minute they see me, they'll shoot me on site. Think, Shun! Think!_ I noticed a small gap between the dumpster and wall. Small enough that it wouldn't be noticed, but large enough for me to try and squeeze into. I looked behind it and saw a large dent in the back.

One that was probably caused by a car, and gave me enough room that I wouldn't be squished against the metal and brick. I contorted my body quickly, and slid between the two objects. I saw the shadows of the two men, and heard one say, "Guess it was a rat. Filthy creatures."

I hoped they didn't hear my racing heart as they walked away, or my quick breathing. I looked at where I was hiding. I was standing in tons of wet and disgusting garbage, and some other items I'd rather not name. I felt as though I'd be sick as the smell finally reached me.

_Please let them be gone._ I couldn't stand the smell anymore, and pushed my way through the opening I went in. The fresh air wasn't enough to calm my stomach, and once I was freed from the space, I threw up from the sheer stench. _God I hope I don't smell like that._ No gunshots were being fired my way, so I assumed they had left the ally. _Good. Good._ I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. It was just like the forest. Everything looked the same, and I had no clue where _out_ was. _Only one thing to do. Keep walking and hope to find it._

_Alice_

I was sitting on the couch at the music store, and easily picked up Shun's scent over Snake's, and anyone else's who sat there. Snake was about to lock up the store and head back to the halfway house where he stayed. "I was never one that was good with keeping friends." I looked up to see Snake turned away from me as he was cleaning the store's front windows.

"You don't say." He jumped up a little to clean the top part. "As crazy as it seems, it's true. Anyone that's ever claimed to be my friend has only used me in the past. And anyone who I was friends with was usually skrewed up in the head. And a lot of them didn't want to be my friends before they even figured out who I really was. I guess you could say I don't have good judge of character."

He did a low, sad chuckle. It was an all too familiar sound, cause I had heard it from Shun many times. I still couldn't see his face, but I didn't have to see it to know what it looked like. "I thought I had myself a decent friend this time. Somebody to joke around with and have jam sessions. But as usual I skrew it up."

I felt slightly sorry for him, but I was too focused on if Shun was ok or not. Snake continued talking. "I mean, I _was _doing my job though. I was basically the person who runs this whole place, and had authority over employees. And work comes before friends. This isn't the first time though that my job has messed my life up."

He mustn't of known that I wasn't halfway paying attention. Snake looked up at the sky through the window. "Remember how I said that this place is all I have? I wasn't kidding. Listen, I don't care if you're listening or not. But sometimes it just feels nice to vent, even if nobody is around. I've had to do that many times, and it's kind of weird to have a person around. But it's a good weird."

Shun had told me Snake's story. How all of his family was killed when he was very young, all because they made stupid choices. I could tell he tried not to make those choices as well, but it seemed to be in his nature to mess up. Almost like it was a curse on him and his family.

Except he'd avoided it much longer, and only taken a few blows. But not enough to take him out. "It looks like it may rain." I got off the couch and looked out the other window. I could see large, dark clouds against the dark night. A flash of lightning split the sky in half. _And Shun's about to get caught in it._

_Shun_

Light cut through the sky as I walked down another ally. Again, looking the same as the last. _Does it have to rain? Haven't I suffered enough?_ "I guess I haven't!" I didn't know who I was screaming at, but I just wanted the world to hear me. Maybe that's who I was screaming at.

The world. The wind picked up and sounded like light voices laughing. I covered my ears with my hands, to block out the sound of the wind. A drop of water hit my arm, and more followed. Soon the bottom fell out. The water turning from black to clear as it neared the ground.

"Are you having fun watching me suffer?" The wind still laughed, stabbing me with chills as it breezed past me fiercely. I staggered over to a brick wall of a building. I slid down it, still holding my hands to my ears to block the sounds of the wind. I couldn't tell if my face was wet from the torrential downpour, or if it was tears. Perhaps a mix of both. This time I just screamed. Nothing said. Nothing directed at anyone.

Just a scream. I felt my body shake, and I felt as if I was on overdrive. My breaths were short and difficult to get control over. I knew what it was. It was a panic attack like the one I had around Alice because I was under too much stress from just life itself. I brought my knees up to my chest, thinking it would help calm me. It didn't.

If anything, it made if harder to breathe. I said between what was a mix of gasps for air and sobs, "Why? Why does this have to me?

Why can't I ever get a break? Why? Why?" My voice trailed off, still saying the same thing over and over again. My tired body laid over on the cold, wet ground that was covered with papers and trash like most of the alleyways. _Just make it end. Please. I just want to go home._ Home was the best sounded this to cross my mind all night.

* * *

><p>it's cold, it's raining, and it's dark. o.o why can't it be this way in the morning when we march? guess the cosmic universe doesnt want that. oh well. I dont think there will be an upload friday, being our homecoming parade and stuff. and the band has to march in it. And i know there wont be one friday cause we have our homecoming game. -.- i cant wait for all this homecoming crap to end. bleh. well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	27. There Really Is No Place Like Home

_Shun_

I felt just like the wet paper around me; stuck to the unforgiving ground. I slowly opened my eyes, and saw it was morning. The sky was clear, with only a few stray clouds. Totally opposite from last night. I was in the same place that I was last night. The concrete ground was still wet from last night's rainfall, as was I. My clothes were stuck to me, the water acted like the glue that plastered my clothes to me.

I forced my body to sit up, clenching my teeth as my sore muscles began to move again. The pain was enough to make my eyes water, but not enough to make a tear roll down. As long as I didn't move, the aches didn't bother me as badly, but the slightly movement set shocks through me. I couldn't just sit there though, as much as I wanted to. I had to find my way out of there, and find a way to get a hold of Alice and let her know where I was. The only good thing that came out from being trapped in the rain, was that some of the garbage from the dumpster I hid behind to escape from two drug dealers, had been washed away.

I no longer smelled the horrid stench on me. The same stench that made me sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I slowly stood up, keeping my back against the brick wall for support incase I fell down. My legs wobbled as I did so, and the pain was sharp and intense.

I took in sharp breathes as new waves of pain coursed through my body. Now I was standing upright, but still using the wall as a means to steady myself. It would be difficult to walk my way through the allies, but I had to. I had to get back to Alice. When I walked down the alleyways, I kept a hand near the brick walls.

Just incase I felt like I would fall over. I would stop every few minutes to catch my breath and rest. My hair and clothes were still soaked, and I was shaking from the cold air. The alleyways had been shadowed from the sun, making them cool as the light couldn't reach them.

And it being early in the morning didn't help either. Wind would also twist and turn through the endless brick maze, and sometimes blew past me, only making me colder. In a few hours, it would warm up, but it would still be chilly in this dark, and damp area. I wished for nothing more, but the warm, summer winds back at Bay City. There was a sound coming from the direction I was facing.

It sounded like. _Cars. There's a street up ahead!_ With the possible promise of getting help, I ran in that direction. I didn't care that my aching body didn't want to run, my mind was set on finding that street. After a few turns, I found the street. Cars were going back and forth on the road, many going way over the speed limit. _I've got to find a phone and call Alice. But first, I need to figure out where the hell I am._

I stepped from the alley, and felt the warmth of the sun on me. It was a nice feeling having the sun on my body. I looked both ways on the sidewalk, and saw the street lined with people and businesses alike. It reminded me of the street where the music store was.

I thought back to the fight I had with Snake. The one that sent me running, and ultimately, got me lost. _I've probably lost my job. I don't care. I can find another easily…..I hope._ I started down the sidewalk, checking for a shop that might have a phone I could use. It was days like this that payphones needed to still be around. Further up ahead, I saw cars pulling in and out of a parking lot. _A gas station. They'll probably have a phone I can use._ I walked inside, and the air conditioner was turned onto full freeze.

It was almost enough to make me jump back outside, but I had to find a phone. There was a skinny man behind the counter, that looked like he was from an Asian country, but spoke in fluent Russian. I approached the counter and he looked at me. "No bums from the street in my store." I looked down at myself. My clothes were stained with dirt and trash, and still slightly damp. I shook my head and said, "I'm not a street bum. I just need to use a phone to call somebody to pick me up. Do you have one?"

He looked at me, unsure if I was telling him the truth. He motioned with his chin to a door behind the counter. "Come. I have a phone in the back. You can use it, but only for a few minutes." I thanked him and quickly asked, "Might I ask where I am?" He pulled out one of the maps that the station sold and unfolded it. He then pointed with his long, skinny finger, to a place on the map.

"You are here." When he removed his finger, I saw I had traveled a good distance. I was halfway across Moscow. Almost to the capital at that. _Seems like I travel pretty far when I'm lost._ I memorized the street name as best I could, even if I was mispronouncing it.

The cashier led me to the room in the back and pointed to a phone hung up on the wall. "Make your call and get out. Bum." I would of normally remarked on somebody's arrogance like his, but he was allowing me to use a phone to call Alice. So, I bit my tongue and held back my words. My shaky hand punched in the numbers, and the phone started ringing.

_Alice_

I left the music store later that night. Only because Snake had to lock it up and make it back before the halfway house's curfew. Shun never showed up back at the shop, and even if he did after we left he would of discovered it was locked. I found that when I got home, he hadn't come to the house. My first clue, was that the door was still locked, and we removed the spare key from under the mat after Dan and the other's break-in.

I double checked the house anyway, thinking he may of found another way inside. I knew it was all in vain though. Sleeping was hard to do, when my mind was racing with so much uncertainty. _What if he's hurt? Or if he got attacked by some gang? Shun cant survive a gunshot or stab wound. Stop thinking like this. Positive thoughts, Alice. Think positive._ I drifted off to sleep a few times, only to wake back up and think the same thoughts over and over again.

I was sitting at the kitchen table, before I went back to the music store to recruit Snake again and try and find Shun once more. My coffee that I made had gone cold. I had actually made two cups, out of habit. The other one was sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for somebody to pick it up and drink it. I knew nobody would though, and got up and poured both cups down the sink. The sink made its gargling noise as the liquid went down the pipes. I left out the house and stopped a few feet short from the car.

It was a nice summer day. Almost like the world didn't know about Shun being lost or possibly hurt. The drive to the music store was much too quiet without Shun sitting next to me. I parked the car in front of the music store and walked inside. The bell chimed, and that was the only sound. No music blasting over the speakers. No Snake playing his guitar. Just _silence._ Snake was sitting behind the counter, and looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep last night either.

He looked up at me as the door closed behind me. I asked him, "You ready to go look for him again?" Snake sighed and walked from behind the counter, when my phone rang. Snake looked at it as I held it in my hand. "Is it him?" I shrugged my shoulders. The number was unknown to me.

I answered the phone. "Hello? Who is this?" The voiced sounded tired and weak, but I knew who it was. "Alice, it's me. I finally found a phone." I nearly dropped my phone. "Shun! Oh my god! Thank heavens you're ok!" Snake looked as stunned as I was. "He's ok? Where's he at?" I asked Shun the question Snake had just asked. He told me, but pronounced the street name wrong. "Ok Shun, just hold on. Me and Snake will be there in no time." I hung up and grabbed Snake's wrist, and drug him out of the store with me. _Thank god we found him._

_Shun_

I left out of the gas station, to return to the warmth of outside. My clothes had almost completely dried out, but they were still damp. My face felt warm to me, but I couldn't tell if it was just me or if I had a fever. I was sitting on a bench outside the station. There were old, squished cigarettes tossed around everywhere where people were too lazy to clean them up or throw them away. People looked at me as they entered the store. _All thinking I'm some bum like the guy behind the counter. _

I moved my foot slightly, and felt something underneath my shoe. I lifted my foot and saw a piece of gum stuck on the bottom. "That's disgusting. It's called a trashcan people. There's one right there." I was talking more to myself than the people around, although some of them were staring at me as if I were talking to them. I ran my foot across the ground, trying to scrape the gum off as best as I could.

I wanted Alice to hurry. I wanted to just go home, and lay down in our bed and not get up till I obtained all the sanity I had lost. It was safe to say that I didn't ever want to end up homeless. I thought back to how my grandfather would threaten me by saying he would kick me out onto the streets cause I did a move wrong or showed up late to my training.

I used to think that would be better than stuck in a house with him, but I had a different opinion now. My ears picked up the all too familiar sound of an engine. It was Alice's car. I quickly stood up and saw the car whip into the gas station. She quickly turned the car off and parked it, then got out of the car and ran towards me. We wrapped our arms around each other. I pressed my face into her shoulder.

She smelled like home, and a place much safer than where I was right now. I heard her tell me, "Thank god you're ok, Shun. We were worried we'd never find you." I didn't say anything. I was either too happy to see hear, or too tired to talk. Either way, I remained silent. I noticed Snake was sitting in the passenger seat of the car. I wasn't angry at him, even though I could see that's what he thought. I was skrewed up after my confrontation with Fabia, and took it out with him in an argument. I looked at Alice and said quietly, "I want to go home."

_Alice_

_I want to go home. _That was the only words he said to either of us when we climbed into the car. I had stopped by our house when we left to go get him, and picked up a blanket incase Shun wanted to get some rest on the way back. He was making use of the blanket right now and he leaned against the window in the backseat and slept. When we hit a bump, he'd open his eyes, but only for a second before falling back asleep.

He didn't look well at all. Snake kept looking back at him in the rearview mirror. "He's not just tired physically, but mentally also. Take it from somebody whose seen a lot of it." I believed Snake. Shun had probably obtained a lot of mental stress, but I had no idea how much.

I looked back at Snake and asked, "Do you want me to drop you back off at the music store before I take Shun home with me? Cause there's no way he's going to be able to work today." Snake nodded his head and didn't say anything. He was well aware that Shun wasn't stable enough to work in his condition.

I turned onto the street that led to the music store, and stopped. Snake opened the door and said, "Thanks for dropping me off. And I hope he gets better soon. We could still use him at the store." I smiled and nodded my head as he shut the car door.

The sound made Shun move a little, but it didn't wake him. We were now at our house in no time, and I turned the car off. I turned around in the seat and hit Shun on his knee. He opened his eyes and looked at me. He was sluggish from fatigue. "Come on, Shun. You have plenty of time to sleep now cause we're home." He looked out the window to make sure I wasn't joking. "I never thought that I'd be this happy to see this place in my life."

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><p>omg! it. is. COLD! -turns into ice pop- i cant feels meh feets or fingers! o.o it was difficult to type. ^^' sorry for the late update. (got home late) this has been the slowest week ever. i kept thinking it was thursday. (more like wishing) crap! i forgot to get the trash down the hill! o.o -shrugs- oh well. it's dark and WAY too cold to go out there. well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	28. Honest Distractions

_Alice_

I stared down at my cellphone, and looked through my contact list. I wanted somebody to talk to, just so I'd know what move to make next. I didn't just want to talk to somebody over the phone though. I wanted to talk to somebody in person. I needed advice on what I should do next about Shun.

All I was aware of was that he was still in our room out cold. It was difficult getting him out of the car yesterday when we finally got home because he just wanted to stay there and sleep. I knew if I didn't make him get out he probably would of stayed in there. My eyes fell on one particular number; Omaki's. _I could call her and ask if she could come over. But she might have school today. It wouldn't hurt to try anyway._

I hit my call button and heard the phone begin to ring. A person spoke on the other end. "Hello?" I found myself smiling. Omaki and I were okay friends, not as close as Runo and Julie, but a good friend nonetheless. "Hey Omaki, it's Alice. I was just wondering if you were able to come over to my house today. I really need somebody to talk to." A low humming came on in the house, and the sound of the air conditioner kicked in.

"Sure. I don't have any classes today. What time would be ok?" I was smiling when I told her, "Whatever time is good with you." Something shattered in the background, and I heard Omaki swear quietly. "Ok, Alice. I'll be over there as soon as I clean up this mess I've made." I laughed and thanked her. We both hung up. I walked towards the room Shun and I shared, and slowly opened the door. Sure enough, he was just where I left him. He hadn't even moved any.

_Shun_

I woke up in the bed I shared with Alice, and remembered where I was. I was at home. I sat up in the bed, my muscles didn't hurt as bad as they did when I woke up in the alley. _Thank god for that._ I was wearing the same clothes as I was when Alice and Snake picked me up from the gas station. I scowled at the ruined clothes and sighed. _Better change out of these clothes._ It felt weird to stand, like all I wanted to do was still lay down and sleep. _I've slept enough as it is._ The clean clothes felt good on my skin. A step above what I had on a few minutes ago. I thought my ears picked up the faint sound of talking.

_Maybe Alice is on the phone._ I silently left from the room and heard two voices in the kitchen. One was Alice's, and the other sounded very familiar, but I couldn't pin it. I peered around the corner, careful to not be seen. Alice and Omaki were sitting at the kitchen table across from each other talking. "And I just don't know what to do next, Omaki. I was hoping you might have some advice for me." _They're talking about me. I'm sure of it._ I leaned in a little closer to catch what Omaki was saying.

"Well, maybe you should consider some counseling for him. He might not need it, but it wouldn't hurt." I was taken aback by her response. "I don't think Shun would like me trying to drag him to a counselor. He'd probably put up a hell of a fight." _You got that right. No freak mind doctor is going to poke around in my thoughts._ Both the girls sighed as their conversation was getting nowhere. I began walking back to the room. I didn't want to interrupt their conversation. There was a large picture hung up on the wall in the hallway. I stopped and looked at my reflection in the glass frame. I looked like my old self; well rested, good health, _sane._

_Do I really look like I need some counselor to tell me if I have issues or not? I think I know if I have problems or not. Then again, who was I screaming at that night? It was nothing. I was probably just tired. People do weird things when they're tired, right?_ My head began to hurt with the thoughts waging war in my mind. I didn't want to go lay down again. I had already done enough of that.

"Shun? What are you doing up?" I froze, still looking at the picture on the wall. Alice and Omaki were both standing there in the hallway. I cleared my throat and said, "I woke up and was going to get something to drink, and saw you had company and didn't want to disturb you two." It was completely a lie, the drink part maybe, but the rest was the truth. Omaki waved at me, and I waved back. _Yeah, this is coming from the person who wants to see me go to a shrink._ Alice stepped in front of me and placed a hand on my cheek.

"Your fever's gone. That's good." I was wondering how Alice saw me now. _How did I look when she saw me sitting there waiting for her at the gas station? How do I look to her now? Do I look like how I saw myself in the picture frame? Or does she see something different? _"Shun, tell me something. Why did you run out of the store the other day? And don't tell me it was cause of Snake being a smartass. Something else was going on."

I knew I'd never get anything past Alice, so why did I try so hard to attempt the inevitable? "I had talked to Fabia after you dropped me off at the music store. She wanted to set things straight with me. Let bygones be bygones. I didn't really want to go back to the store, but I knew you'd be there soon, and I didn't want you to worry when you didn't see me there. Guess that backfired." Omaki saw this was a conversation that should only involve me and Alice, and she went back into the kitchen.

"It was a stupid thing to get so worked up over. I didn't want to talk to her, but I knew she wouldn't take no for an answer." Alice nodded her head to show she was listening. "Well, I don't know what kind of relationship you and Fabia had, so I don't know how much stress it put on you to talk to her. But I do know if it was enough to make you breakdown like that, then it wasn't something stupid to get worked up over." She was handling this better than I thought she would, and much better than I was. I was biting my lower lip, trying to pick my next decision.

"I want to go to the music store. To clear everything up with Snake so he doesn't think the reason I ran off was his fault." Alice moved her hair behind her shoulders to keep it out of her face and said, "That sounds like a good idea to me. He seemed kind of out of whack about the whole thing." I smiled at her. She was right. When I saw Snake sitting in the car, he looked almost as wrecked as I felt.

I saw Omaki poking her head around the corner of the kitchen. I laughed a little and said to her, "You can tag along too. It'll give Snake something new to flirt over. And give Alice a break."Alice smiled at me and shook her head. She saw I was feeling better, but I didn't know how I was really feeling.

_Snake_

I could be such a skrew up, without ever trying. It always seemed like I caused everyone, and everything around me pain. I was still at the music store, and everything was still dead silent. I didn't feel like listening or playing to any music. Most of the day I kept the _open _sign turned to the _closed _side. Only because I didn't want to deal with any costumers. Even though nobody even took a glance at the store.

Some of my long bangs fell over my eyes, and I saw the tips turning back to brown, my actual hair color. _Maybe I should let it go back to normal. It'd be something new to most people._ There was a knocking on the glass part of the storefront door, and I saw Alice standing there. She was probably here to tell me about how Sparky was doing. I walked over to the door and twisted the lock and she stepped inside, but she wasn't alone. There was a tall, skinny brunette behind her. She waved at me and trailed behind Alice. Right when I thought that was all she brought along with her, Sparky stepped inside the store.

He was looking much better than when I last saw him passed out in the backseat of Alice's car. He had color to his face, although I could still see distress in his eyes. Only reason I knew that was because I had seen it in my eyes one too many times. "Sparky, what are you doing here? I thought you'd still be at home resting up." He gave me a sly grin, one like I'd do all the time out of habit.

"I did rest up. Yeah I'm still a little tired, but oh well. I just dropped by to tell you the reason I ran off wasn't because of you. I was having some past issues at the time, and true you didn't help the problem, but you weren't the reason I booked it out of here."

I felt a wave of relief wash over me. "So, we're cool, Sparky?" He nodded and said, "Yeah. We're cool." I heard the two girls over there whispering to each other, and noticed the brunette looking at me. I leaned over to Sparky and said, "Hey pal, since we're cool now, how bout giving me the story on that little gal over there?" He rolled his eyes and said, "I was beginning to wonder how long it'd take you to ask. That's Omaki. She's one of our friends, and actually lived in the city I used to before I came here. Right now she's studying at some community college in the city."

I saw that she looked over at me and then back at Alice. _Were they talking about me?_ "So, a college girl, huh? Is there a college boyfriend in the picture that I should worry about? For all I know, you brought her here for me to flirt with and she has some huge boyfriend that will punch me if he sees me near her."

Sparky chuckled and said, "You know me better than that. And as far as we know, she doesn't have a boyfriend." I had a chance. I fixed my hair and walked over to her, and Alice stepped away as she saw me going that way. I heard Sparky say something smart at me, but I was fixed on one thing. Getting to know this Omaki girl.

_Shun_

It was a good thing I brought Omaki along with us. She was keeping Snake distracted now that everything had been set straight. He was leaning against the wall talking to the brunette, and talking to her. Alice walked over to me and asked, "How did you know Snake would start flirting with her immediately after you two made up?" I grinned and told her, "Snake is the basic stereotype; he likes good girls. Why else do you think he hovered over you all the time?"

She blushed and I put and arm around her. Snake had actually made Omaki laugh at something he had said. Alice said, 'Maybe Omaki is the basic stereotype too; she may like bad boys." I laughed. It was probably true. "Those two may be a match made in heaven." Omaki skipped over to us and said, "Hey, if it's cool with you guys, I think I'm going to hang around here a little while longer. Kay?"

Me and Alice both said at the same time, "Go for it." She smiled and ran back over to where Snake was. It looked like he was telling her some amazing adventure he had. I whispered to Alice, "Probably trying to find lost CD's in the storage room." She giggled, and I started putting together the mental image and couldn't help but shake my head.

I called over to them, "Hey, I think me and Alice are going to head back now." Snake waved his hand and said, "Yeah, guitars are in the back." I rolled my eyes. It was amazing how much he could focus at times. I grabbed Alice's hand and walked out of the store.

She told me, "I think it's great that we found somebody to occupy Snake's time. But it may mess with his work ethnic if he stays this focused on her." We walked over to the car and I told her, "You're just happy he's finally going to leave you alone now." Alice nodded her head and said, "You've got that part right." I laughed and climbed into the car with her.

* * *

><p>i saw in a review that somebody suggested a part from Snake's point of view. i was thinking about doing that for some time, but just couldnt figure out when to add it in. and i saw this as a perfect opportunity. at least Snake won't be after Alice anymore. XP or will he? -dramatic music- o.o lol. we lost our homecoming game last night. -.- not a big surprise. : ph well. read, review, and other things. sorry for not uploading the past two days. busy i was. ~Copperpelt~


	29. Love Isn't Always Fair

_Shun_

Yesterday, Alice and I left Omaki and Snake back at the music store after things got set straight. I was still wondering whether that was a smart move or not. I shrugged it off and took a sip from my cup of hot tea. Alice refused for me to go back to the store today. Just to make sure I was firmly back on my feet, end even if I was she'd probably still keep me at home.

Unlike me though, Alice had gone off to her job at the grocery store. I could tell she didn't really wanted to leave, but she would only be working a few hours. So, she sucked it up and left. I looked over at the end of the table. As usual, a stack of unopened and forgotten mail had piled up. Alice was the one that always went and got the mail, but she never seemed to take the time to open the mail to see if it was of any importance. I reached for the white envelops as I took the last sip of my tea.

Most of it was usually junk, with the occasional something that should have some notice put towards it. So far, the junk pile was towering over everything else, and I found something that seemed of importance. It was addressed to Alice, and from her Aunt and Uncle that lived not far from Moscow. I think they lived just outside of the city, or on the other side of town. _Alice mustn't of seen it when she checked the mail. _

"Hmm. It was delivered yesterday." It was probably something asking us how we were holding up. Alice's family was always close to one another. I was tempted to open the letter, just to see what it said. I was biting my lower lip, but placed the letter down next to the junk mail.

As much as I wanted to know what it was about, it was for Alice. And it was against the law to open another person's mail, right? I doubted Alice would turn me into any cops just for opening her letter, but I didn't want her to get mad at me for invading her privacy.

Plus, Alice's anger was much more terrifying than getting caught by the cops. After I organized the mail into two stacks, one of junk and another of things to keep, I stood up and placed the letter on the counter where Alice would see it. I looked up at the clock that was hung up on over the kitchen table, and saw the time. The hours were crawling by with what seemed to be endless minutes following it. Only an hour or so ago, Alice left to go to work. It would just be one of those days that never seemed to end, and there would be nothing to do.

I glanced into the den and saw the computer, and the webcam sitting on the top of it that we had set up on it a few months ago. I thought about video calling Dan and the others. _It'd give me something to do._ I shook my head, and changed my mind.

My thoughts kept going back to that letter I set on the counter. _It's going to kill me if I don't know._ I walked back into the kitchen and stared at the white envelop that was laying on the counter. Maybe it was my boredom that was driving my curiosity about that letter up the wall, or maybe I really did want to know. All I could tell was that I wanted to know what words were in that letter.

_Did the letter concern me? Was it just to see how we were doing?_ My fingers grazed across the white paper and craved to tear open the letter. I shook my head. "I've gotta get out of here and way from that letter. Yeah. Some fresh air should clear my thoughts about it." I walked outside, wearing a light jacket. The air had grown colder from the upcoming fall season.

The leaves on the trees that were once alive and green, now looked dead with their brown colored leaves. Whenever the wind blew by, it carried away some of the leaves from every tree. It looked like it was carrying away little spirits or something along that line.

The ground was covered with the little 'spirits' and reminded me of when it was covered with snow. But this time the snow was soft and white, but brittle and brown. I walked over to the edge of the trees and kicked up the leaves as I walked along the edge.

They flew up and the wind blew them past my body. One of the leaves stuck to my chest, but when I moved just slightly it followed the others. While I stayed out there, I lost track of the time until I noticed Alice's car pull into the driveway. She got out of the car and saw me standing out there. "Shun? What are you doing out here?" I walked over to her as she climbed up the concrete steps that led into the house. "I just wanted some air. It was getting stuffy in the house."

I saw some more mail in her hands from where she stopped down at the mailbox before driving up the driveway. _She should see the letter on the counter._ I followed her into the house just like that leaf that stuck to me followed the others in the wind. I stayed in the living room while she went into the kitchen to place the new stack of mail down on the table. I then heard the sound of paper tearing. _She's opening the letter._ There was a short pause before she said, "What? Is this some kind of joke?"

I didn't get the chance to go into the kitchen before she walked into the living room, and was looking back over the letter. "What does it say?" She wa shaking her head in disbelief as she read it over and over again. _Maybe something has happened to another family member._ Alice was still shaking her head. "I can't believe this." Her eyes were still fixed on the paper. I was starting to grow concerned. "Alice, what does it say?" She shook her head again and looked up at me. "My Aunt and Uncle don't want me staying with you and want me to come live with them till the baby is born."

I didn't believe her and snatched the letter from her hands and read it for myself. It said plainly the same thing Alice had just told me. I looked at her and asked, "Why?" Alice ran a hand through her orange hair and said, "They've always been overprotective, but this takes it to a whole new level. It says in the letter they want me to call them when I get it. I'll give them a ring and see if I can set things straight. This is pure ridiculous." I agreed with her 100%. She picked up the house phone and punched in their number and walked into the den.

I couldn't hear their conversation from the living room. I couldn't believe that they wanted to take Alice away from me. _I can understand being a little protective, but I'd never do anything to harm Alice. Why are they so worried? _I re-read over the letter and hoped every word of this was somebody's sick joke. Alice walked back into the living room, and put the phone down. "Well, did everything get straightened out?"

Alice shook her head. "They're still persistent on me living with them. And I might have to." I was thinking Alice had been tricked into agreeing with them. "What do you mean you might have to live with them?" She sat down on the couch, looking tired from the day. "Well, after my parents died, my grandfather put his name down to be the one to take care of me, and my Aunt and Uncle put their names down if something happened to him. So by law, they're my guardians. That means they have a say in what I do until I turn 25."

I felt anger swell up in me. _How could they just randomly pop up and want to take Alice away? After everything we've been through they don't trust us._ "Is there anything you can do or say to make them change their minds? Maybe some kind exception in the law?" She shook her head and told me, "As far as I know, that law is pretty tight. Don't worry Shun, I'll find a way to make them change their minds about their decision. It may take a while to convince them though." I heaved a heavy sigh. It always seemed like once we were in the clear, something was waiting around the corner to topple our happiness.

I started feeling tired. Tired of never getting a break from things like this. "So, when are they going to come and get you?" She looked up at me with her brown eyes, and they reminded me of the brown leaves falling off the trees outside. "They're coming to get me tomorrow."

My legs almost felt like they were about to give out. Like I had been running for countless days. "Why tomorrow? Why not later?" Her faced saddened as she said, "I tried to get them to wait a little longer. But they said the sooner I was with them the better. I don't understand why they don't want me to stay here with you." _I don't either, Alice. But I wish I knew._

I sat next to her on the couch and she laid her head on my shoulder. Once they took her away, there was no telling how long we could be apart. I kept finding it ridiculous that they want to take her away from me till the baby was born. That would only be in about five months. _Why keep us apart for five months?_ Alice always spoke so highly of her Aunt and Uncle. She had admitted a few times they were a little protective, but that was only because of their morale. They always seemed to believe in being safer than sorry. _They may be sorry after this though. _

_Shun_

They arrived early that morning. Much too early for my liking. Alice had packed most of her belongings, mainly just the necessities. We stood outside, hand in hand. I wanted them to see that they may be able to take her from me for a little while, but they can't keep me from her. They were standing in front of their car and her Uncle called out to her. "Alice, come on! It's a long drive back home." I heard Alice mumble something like _'This is my home.' _under her breath.

I whispered to her, "Don't worry. They can't keep you forever. I'll keep in touch. I promise." Her Aunt was glaring at us. Maybe from how close we were to each other, or maybe her patience was wearing thin. Alice placed a kiss on my lips; probably the last one we'd have for a while. She started walking towards the car, and I didn't want to let go of her hand, and she didn't want to let go of mine either.

We finally let go of each other's hands, and I watched as she stepped in front of the overprotective people that were tearing us apart from each other for some reason. The Uncle then spoke, and made everything shatter more. "I don't want you two to have any contact with each other either." Alice quickly turned and faced him. Her voice was not a yell, but very loud.

"What? You can't do that!" I followed her words by saying, "Yeah! You can't stop us from talking to each other! It's one thing that you're taking her from me, but you can't stop us from speaking to each other." The Uncle stopped me from talking and said, "We're her guardians now, and we can say who she can see, talk to, and stay with. Now, we have to get back."

Alice looked back at me as they told her to get into their car. Her eyes were begging for me to not let her take her, and I knew my eyes were begging that she didn't have to go. They finally got her to get into the car, and they closed the door once she was in the back seat.

She looked at me through the window and mouthed the words _I love you_ to me. "I love you too." I hated feeling defeated like this as they drove off, taking the love of my life with me. I then did the one thing I could think about. I hurried inside and called up the only person I could think up that might be able to help me; Murucho.

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><p>mmmm. lasagna. X3 i loves me some Italian. oh yes i do. found out tomorrow the bands are splitting up. WOO! no more marching with all those people. now we get to sit and be lazy. XP sorry i didnt uploud yesterday. i got home late and then The Walking Dead was about to come on and i wanted to watch it. o.o really badly. lol. well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	30. Rebel Love Song

_Shun_

_Just a few more houses down._ I was following the directions I got off the internet to Alice's Aunt and Uncle's house on the edge of town. According to the map, they were right on the border to the next town, but considered within the limits of Moscow. Even though they had basically forbidden Alice and I from seeing each other, I had something important to tell her concerning this whole ordeal.

I said under my breath, "There's the house." I quietly pulled the car onto the other side of the street, making sure not to gather much attention. The dark sky of the night was a good cover for the black car that once belonged to Dr. Michaels. Most of the people in the neighborhood were asleep by now, but I saw the lights upstairs were on. _That's probably Alice's room__._

A balcony was on the other side of the window. I didn't have the time to think my plan through, so I went ahead and used my ninja skills and jumped on the balcony. The curtains in the window were closed, so I had to knock on the glass. This would determine if I picked the right room. If not, I had just revealed myself. My knuckles tapped against the window, and the curtains pulled to the side. Thankfully, Alice was the one pulling them back. I heaved a sigh of relief, and an expression of shock went across her face.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts and unlocked the latches on the window and lifted it up. "Shun? What are you doing here? Don't you know that you could get in trouble if my Aunt or Uncle see you?" I grabbed her arms and pulled her towards me and placed my lips on hers. When I pulled away, I said softly, "I'm aware of the consequences of showing up here, but I had to talk to you before I leave."

Her face now showed confusion as I helped her climb through the window and onto the balcony with me. "Leave? What do you mean? Where are you going?" This was why I had to see her. "I called up Murucho after they took you away this morning. He's working on a way around this stupid law. And he needs me to help him out back in Bay City. He admitted himself this tasks sounds tricky, so it may be a while before I come back. But I promise when I come back, everything will be like it was before they stepped in and disrupted our life together."

I saw a tear form in her eyes, and I wiped it away with my thumb before it could roll off her cheek. "What's the matter?" She took my hands in hers. They were as soft as always. "I overheard my Aunt and Uncle talking. They were talking about putting the baby up for adoption when its born."

I was about to tell her that this was no time for a joke, but I saw the truth and hurt in her eyes. "They can't do that. It's your baby. You should be the one the decide what happens. How could they even think something like this?" I wanted nothing more than to walk into that house and let out all the frustration on the two people who were causing all of this. Alice held on tighter to my hands and said, "They can. Like they said, the legal guardians have a say in whatever goes on in my life till I turn 25. And that means what happens to our baby. It's Moscow's law."

My anger turned to hope at her last words. I grinned at her and said, "I think I just found a loophole in this so called tight law." Alice looked at me, as if trying to see my plan in my eyes. I told her, "You said it was Moscow's law right? Well, what if they baby is born _outside _of Moscow? They wouldn't have any law then, would they?" Alice thought for a minute and said, "I guess not. But they're still the ones who have legal say on me. What's going to stop them from taking the baby from us the minute it's born though?"

I was so close to finding the answer, but I couldn't word it exactly correct. "The baby would be born in another city, town or whatever. That means Moscow has no legal jurisdiction on the baby cause its not a citizen of this city. Moscow's law, can't be placed on a citizen that's not from Moscow. That means your Aunt and Uncle can't take away the baby cause its protected from the law."

Alice was piecing it together as I spoke, and when I finished she smiled. I then said, "All we'd have to do is hope Murucho can come through for us in time after that." She then wrapped her arms around my body and I did the same to her. I told her in her ear, "I'm not letting them win. I am _not _going down without a fight."

_Alice_

Shun had just left from the balcony to go to the airport, where he'd be picked up by Murucho's jet and flown to Bay City. I was back in my room at my Aunt and Uncle's. I looked around. The room only had a bed and some dressers. The rest was wipe open and empty looking. I remembered laying in the slanted roofed room after everyone found out I was Masquerade.

This was the only place I could think of to go to since my grandfather was still suffering from the negative effects of the Silent Core. That was before I knew what kind of people they really were; dominating and restrictive. I didn't argue back when I overheard them talking about giving my baby away for adoption, but that crossed the line. I didn't care that they were family, they couldn't take away my child after everything that's happened. I looked up at the clock. Shun was probably at the airport and on his way to Bay City to help Murucho.

I had also found out that the others were helping with our cause; Dan, Runo, Julie, Jake, and surprisingly, Fabia. Shun didn't know who was all standing behind him and Murucho though. I found out through a text from Runo. Word had spread quickly amongst the brawlers.

There was no possible way that my so called _'guardians' _would win this fight. In the end, I would be back at home with Shun and my baby while they were left as the losers in this war they had started. I stood near my door and heard them speaking in the room downstairs. I pressed my ear against the wall. It was my Aunt's voice speaking now. "I know Alice won't take too kindly when we tell her she won't be able to keep her baby, but it's for the best. She'd be able to go to a nice university and work at someplace other than that grocery store."

I grew angry at how wrong she was. _Is this the reason you've uprooted my life? Just so I can go to a college and get a job? You're taking away my child and Shun just so I'll have the life you want me to?_ This was so wrong. They were abusing the law that the city had made. The law was more intended for people who needed it, even though it implied to everyone. They were turning into my own personal dictators.

_Shun_

It was morning when Murucho's jet landed on the landing pad on the roof of his massive mansion. I stepped out of the door of the jet, Kato was behind me, and saw Murucho standing in front of Dan, Runo, Julie, Jake, and-_Fabia._ Murucho waved his hands behind me and said, "We've got a few extra hands that wanted to help out." Dan rubbed his nose with his thumb and grinned. "Yeah. Nobody is gunna keep my buddy and his girlfriend apart from each other. Not on my watch."

The others agreed with Dan and I smiled. I put my hands in my pocket and felt where my mother's locket used to be. I had given it to Alice before I left for the airport. She refused to take it, but I insisted on her keeping it. I was now at the base of the steps, and Fabia walked up in front of me. She looked at me and said, "I'm willing to put aside all the bad blood between us, if you are too. For Alice and her baby's sake." I held her gaze and nodded my head and said, "For Alice and her baby."

Murucho clapped his hands together and said, "Let's get going! The sooner we start on this, the sooner Shun and Alice can be back together!" Julie did some kind of cheerleader pose and squealed, "Yeah! I agree with Murucho!" We all shared a quick laugh and walked inside the mansion. It felt like we had already won this battle, even though there was a long road ahead till we met the enemy.

_Alice_

I was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast with my Aunt and Uncle. We didn't say a word to each other. Occasionally they would say something to one another. _They're trying to figure out the right to tell me their plan._ I stood up, slamming my hands on the table. The silverware clatter against the plates and table, then their eyes were on me. My Aunt then said calmly, "Alice, sit back down. There was no need for that."

I narrowed my eyes at her, something I had picked up from Shun. I told them coldly, "You're not taking my baby away from me." My Uncle took a bite of his food and told me flatly, "So you did hear our conversation last night. You saved us the time of telling you then. But you can't do anything about this, Alice. It's the law, and it's on our side." I grinned slightly. _I thought you'd say something like that. _

I took my hands from the table and balled them into fists. "The law isn't going to be on your side much longer. And your not going to uproot everything Shun and I have worked for." My Uncle shook his head and told me, "You were always the rebellious one, Alice. Just like your grandfather, and we knew he was. That's why we wanted to take care of you after your parents died. So that way you wouldn't take after him and think you can do whatever you feel like. But sadly he beat us to it."

I clenched my teeth together, trying not to show how much their words were getting to me. It wasn't just their illogical thinking, but the way they were speaking. They were speaking as if they were talking casually over coffee. Like nothing was wrong with what they were doing. I shook my head and left the kitchen and ran up the stairs to my room. I slammed the door shut. _They may say this is my room, but it isn't. My room is back at the house with Shun next to me._

I clicked the latch locked behind me and made my way towards the bed that was the largest thing in this empty room. I laid down on my back and stared up at the slanted roof. I felt cool metal touch my hand, and I wrapped it around my fingers. It was Shun's mother's locket. I held it above my head and opened the heart shaped charm. _Shun looked so young._ I compared him to the picture and how he looked now. Everything he had gone through had made him who he was. And he had fooled the world with it. _Just like me._

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><p>kinda finished early if i say so myself. o.o omg. i finally found a halloween party to go to, and if my dad will let me go then there wont be an upload monday. i meant to add this in the last note, i dont know if there is an actual law like this is Moscow, so dont think the Russians are bad people please. thanks. lol. well, i think that's it. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	31. Who Ever Said Lawyers Were Evil?

_Shun_

We all sat together in one of the many sitting rooms in Murucho's mansion. For the past month, we all had been working diligently to find a way around the law that was keeping me away from Alice, and threatening to take away our baby the minute it was born. Murucho had been working the hardest out of all of us, along with the help of some of the best lawyers he could find that would take on this job on such sort notice.

They had all clarified, that this was a big task they were taking on. I remembered one saying, "This isn't just some little company we're going up against. We're going up against a _law_ of a _city._" We all understood what we were up against, but we continued on with the task at hand. Murucho was in another room, brainstorming with the lawyers that had helped his parents out of tight situations before. Dan and the others were talking about different things, while I remained silent. I was worried about what was going on back in Moscow. _If they can say they want to give the baby away for adoption, they could just as easily change their minds and do something worse._ I felt sick at the thought of everything they could do.

_All because there is some out of line law telling them they can._ I felt a hand on mine, and out of instinct I thought it was Alice. I turned and saw Runo looking right at me. I smiled slightly. Just enough to tell her I was alright without speaking a word. She whispered over to me, "Don't worry, Shun. Everything is going to work out. You know you can trust Murucho to come through." I was still halfway smiling, and nodded my head once. She removed her hand from mine and turned back to Julie and continued their conversation.

I knew I could count on Murucho, but things had been so unexpected lately that I had doubts rising up in my thoughts. I felt much different from when we started all of this a month ago. I felt tired and rundown from the late nights we all spent staying up to increase our chances of figuring this whole ordeal out. And many nights, I didn't get much sleep from my rampant thoughts. Murucho entered the room, and we all turned to look at him. I stood up from the couch and asked quickly, "Did they figure something out?"

The desperation in my voice was enough for even me to pick up, so I knew the others heard it. Even though we had plenty of time, months to be exact, to find a gap in the law, I couldn't help but always feel like I was on pins and needles. Maybe it was because of everything I had on the line. Murucho shook his head, looking much older than he had last time I had seen him in Russia. "No. We're just taking a short break." I sighed heavily and sat back down, the cushion pressing down from my weight. Dan told me in a calm voice, "Shun, calm down. You're going to end up letting your anxiety over this get the best of you. We have plenty of time." Normally I would of snapped at him. I would of told him how he didn't have his life on the line and that if he did he'd be in the same position as I was. But no. I kept my words to myself.

I was just too tired to start anything with Dan. The last thing I wanted was to yell at the people who were giving their time to help me. "I think….I'm going to go lay down for a little while." Murucho looked at me, then the others and back to me, and nodded his head. He knew that I needed some time to myself. I stood up and walked towards my room. The hallway that lead to it wasn't empty. One of the house cleaners was carrying several clean, white folded sheets in her arms.

She greeted me as I walked past by, and I returned the favor. I found my room in the hallway, and entered and shut the door behind me. Since they were guest rooms, they weren't decorated except for some paintings and fake flowers stuck randomly in the area. The lights weren't on, and that was a good thing. They would of only irritated me more. The color of the walls looked like a dark blue, but in the light we all knew they some sort of beige or yellow color.

I laid on the single person bed, and remembered the bed in the guest room upstairs back at the house in Moscow. I had stayed in there, and spent many nights with Alice in that bed. All the stress if the month's events had finally hit my body, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

_Alice_

I could no longer keep up with the status of what was going on in Bay City. Reason being, my new dictator guardians had restricted me from using a phone, other than to call them or somebody for help. They were thinking I was speaking to Shun and going behind their backs. Which I was, but I was also speaking with Runo and Julie. Last time I had received a message, it was from Runo. She had told me about how Murucho had like six or seven of the best lawyers in Bay City that would agree to this case.

Right after I read that message, they took away my cellphone and said I had to either be dying or calling them to use any kind of phone. I was starting to really grow tired of their hunger for power and control over my life choices. I was sitting in my window, looking out over the little balcony on the other side. My hand was placed lightly on my stomach. The bump was much bigger now, and all I could really wear were my dresses. I kept thinking about when Shun would be back.

The month had gone by quickly, and I knew the next few would be the same way. There was a knock on the door. I then heard my Aunt's voice. "Alice, we're going to the market. Do you want to come with us?" I bit my lip. Other than them trying to control when I breathed and slept, they acted like any other relative. I answered back, "No. I think I'll stay here." My Aunt gave me and ok and I heard her heels fade away on the wood stairs as she walked down them. I turned back out of my window and watched as they pulled out of the driveway and sped down the street. Now was my chance.

I knew where they had hidden my cellphone. I left from my room and hurried down the stairs. They had put it in plain sight. Right there in their bedroom, was my phone on its charger placed on the nightstand. I tore the cord from the phone and turned it on. The screen lit up and showed me I had many missed calls and messages. All of the messages were giving me updates from Runo. I only read them, knowing if I sent a text or deleted anything, my Aunt and Uncle would know if they checked the phone.

I had no clue if they had read some of the messages or not. But if they did, then they knew about our plan. I prayed that they never turned the phone on and read anything. I didn't want all of this to go to waste after all the work Murucho and the others had put into it. I turned the phone back off and plugged the charger back in. I made sure when I placed the phone back on the nightstand, that it was put back in the same place. Or at least close to it. I walked out of the room, and back up the stairs. My curiosity had been satisfied, but worry had taken the place of my mind's hunger.

Now I was back in my room, and sitting on the side of my bed. I reached under my mattress and pulled out the locket Shun had given to me. Only reason I kept it hidden, was that my Aunt or Uncle may of decided to take it away from me. And the necklace was too precious to me, and Shun. I tucked it back under the mattress and sighed. I felt like a prisoner; having to hide anything I held dear to me.

The sound of my Aunt and Uncle's car pulled into the driveway. I looked down upon them from my window, and watched them carry bag of food they purchased from the market. The sight reminded me that I never called my boss at the grocery store to tell him what was going on, and Shun never informed Snake of this either. I knew we both probably had lost our jobs. _I doubt either one of them will understand. Oh well. Nothing I can do about it now._

_Shun_

When I woke up, my arms were outstretched. I knew it was another habit. I was so used to waking up and having Alice wrapped in my arms. I had woken up like this several times, and I hated it. I looked up at the window and saw it was dark outside now. The others were probably still awake though. I got out of the bed and walked out of my room and down the hall. Sure enough, the others were still sitting in the same room, in the same places. I stepped in the sitting area, and all eyes turned on me. Dan asked me, "Feeling better after your nap?" Most people would of thought Dan was being sarcastic, but you'd have to know him long enough to understand that this was the way he was.

I nodded my head slowly and leaned against the wall towards the back of the room. It had been a long time since I had secluded myself from the others like this. But I did not want to sit down over there. I said, to no one in particular, "So, Murucho still doing the research?" Jake was the first to reply. "Yeah. The little dude took a break a few minutes ago. He looked pretty wiped." I felt guilty. Murucho was running himself ragged trying to help me. And while I was just sleeping a few hours ago, he was working nonstop.

"Where is he now?" Julie pointed down the hall and told me, "He's in the big meeting room. Why?" I didn't give her my reason and thanked her for telling me. I found the meeting room, and knocked on the large, wood door. I heard Murucho's voice. "Come in." I pushed open the door and saw him sitting in one of the chairs that went to a long table. He had several stacks of papers scattered around, and he was reading one of the pages when I closed the door behind me. "Where'd all those lawyers go?"

Murucho put his papers down and removed his glasses and cleaned them off on his shirt. When he put them back on, he told me, "I told them they could go on home and come back tomorrow. They had been working pretty hard the past few days and told them they needed a night off."

That was Murucho for you. Always giving and kind. I sat in a chair next to him and looked at the papers he had placed in front of them. I didn't understand the words, but I knew it was the law we were fighting. I looked at the short blonde and said, "Thanks so much, Murucho. I know you don't have to do this for me or Alice, but thank you."

He waved his hand at me and said, "No need for thanks, Shun. You've saved me in almost every war we've fought. It's the least I can do. Besides, you're our friend. And so is Alice." I smiled and looked at the stacks of paper again. I took a deep breath and asked, "So, where do I start?"

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><p>wow. late upload. o.o oh well. i got home late. : o.o well, ithink that's it. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	32. Minor Findings

_Shun_

Murucho had found some minor weak points in the law, but nothing that would aid in getting around it. We were still in the meeting room looking over the stacks of papers. This was why I didn't understand politics; too many words repeated and made things complicated. Lucky for me, Murucho knew what he was reading. He had highlighters and pens scattered around with the papers, and would occasionally highlight or mark a sentence or word.

One page though, didn't even have any marks on it. He kept looking over it, pen ready to find whatever he was looking for, but he never marked on it. He tossed the paper on the table and sighed. "I think my brain has fried. I can't seem to find anything in this one."

The blonde ran his hand through his short, leaf topped hair. I picked up the paper and scanned the words. I felt useless cause I didn't know what to look for. I placed the paper back down and told Murucho, "Maybe we should take a break." He nodded his head and stood up, pushing his chair back as he did so. I copied him and left the room behind him. We walked back into the sitting area, and of course, the others were still there talking. Dan asked Murucho coolly, "So, what's the story? Find anything of use?"

Murucho sat down on one of the matching sofas and said, "I found some little things that may help us in the long run, but they're aren't the thing we need." Kato then walked into the room, holding a round tray full of drinks. He sat it on the coffee table and watched as the others took their drinks. Kato then looked over and me and Murucho and said, "I was going to ask if you two wanted something to drink, but you were locked away in the meeting room and didn't want to disturb you. Do you want anything now?"

Me and Murucho exchanged looks before he told Kato, "No thanks, Kato. I think we're good." Kato bowed slightly and left the room. _Good old faithful Kato._ Julie stood up and said in her bubbly voice, "Hey guys, me, Runo, and Jake are going to Runo's café for something to eat. Any of you wanna come with?" Dan responded with, "Sure. Why not?" Murucho stood from his chair and stretched.

"Yeah. I could use something to eat. What about you, Shun?" I looked at the blonde and told him and the others, "I'm not really that hungry. You guys go on ahead." They all looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, then left the room. I sighed and walked down the hallway that held all of our rooms. Then, I saw Fabia walking towards me. It was then that I never even noticed that she wasn't in the sitting area with the others when they left to go to the café. She was looking down at the ground, but stopped when she looked up at me.

I stopped walking as well. I asked her, "Where're you going?" She pointed down towards the sitting area and said, "To go and talk to the others. Why?" I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest. "You're out of luck. They just left to go to Runo's café to get some lunch." It was odd being 'friends' again, after being enemies for such a long time. I knew deep down though, we still were, and we were just putting our differences aside till this all blew over.

She stepped beside me and asked, "Has Murucho found anything else?" I kept my gaze half on her, and half off into the distance. "Not really. I wish he had though." I saw her nod her head slightly. "Shun, what if this was me in the same situation as Alice? Would you be doing the same thing for me, if we never had our falling out?" I felt my eyes widen at her question. This had to be a trick question.

I had to think about this. _If we never had our fight and thrown away everything, would I be fighting for her like I am for Alice?_ "I don't know. I don't know how things would be now if we never had our fight." I heard her sigh. "Yeah. I thought you'd say that. There are a lot of if's in thinking about what would of happened in things like this. Well, I guess I'll go catch up with Dan and the others. Nice talking to you."

I heard her shoes hit the floor as she walked off down the hallway. I answered her question as truthfully as possible. Because of what happened between us, I'd probably of said no. But if none of that happened, then I might of said yes.

_Alice_

I was completely clueless on what was going on in Bay City. And it was eating me alive to not know. I had finally gotten some 'leash' from my Aunt and Uncle for listening to them, and was walking around in the park near the music store. I was surprised they let me come this far, but they wanted to walk around the shopping centers near here.

I just told them that I wanted to go walk in the park while they shopped since I had been cooped up in my room for the past month. They told me they didn't care, as long as I met up with them back at their car by five. I took this chance of freedom to run into the music store and explain everything to Snake.

_I can at least try and save Shun's job._ I double checked the street before crossing, and hurried to the other side. I pulled open the door, hearing the all too familiar bell over the door ring. Snake was behind the counter, and surprisingly, Omaki was sitting on the couch.

Snake walked around the counter, and stared at me like I was a ghost. "Dude, where have you and Sparky been? We haven't seen or heard from either of you in. like, a month." Omaki was standing now herself, her arm was linked in with Snake's. I ignored their display of affection. _I'll be happy for them later._ "It's a really long story. You guys might want to sit down." They looked at each other, and did as I said.

_Alice_

Snake was shaking his head and said, "Damn, I thought you guys had died or something like that." Omaki lifted her hand and popped him in the back of his head. "Ouch! Well, I did! Sheesh. Anyway, that sucks. That's why I hate the rules of this city. They get stupider and stupider every year."

Omaki rolled her eyes at him. I didn't realize it at the moment, but they were a lot like me and Shun. She stood up from the couch and walked over to me, and gave me a hug. "Alice, I'm sorry this had to happen to you. I know Shun will come through for you." I smiled. I needed the support of somebody.

But with my 'guardians' restrictions, I haven't had much of this much needed support. I checked the clock that was hung on the wall of the store. "I need to get going. My Aunt and Uncle want me back at their car in a few minutes. It was great seeing you guys." They gave me their good-byes, and I hurried out of the store.

_Shun_

The others soon returned from the café, and all resumed just as they left. This time though, Fabia was with them, but didn't talk unless somebody said something to her. Murucho then told us, "Well, the lawyers we hired are back for today's work. I'm going to go into the meeting room with them if anyone needs me." We all nodded as he left into the meeting room. I wondered what Alice was doing now, and sighed. Dan looked over at me and said, "Hey Shun, can I ask you something in another room?"

I looked at him, then closed my eyes and nodded my head. We both left the others and went downstairs into the bottom main lobby of the huge building. "What did you want to talk about?" Dan's face turned serious as he said, "Shun, you have to start looking on the positive side of this. We have plenty of time before Alice's baby is born. That means plenty of time to figure this out. Now, you can either mope around, or you can start thinking positive. I guarantee, that things will go a lot quicker if do."

I stared at Dan. I knew I wasn't hiding my emotions, but I didn't think they were that obvious to the others. Dan had a point though. If I was just going around and not at least being optimistic about this, then we wouldn't get very far. I halfway smiled, but it was more of a sad smile of gratitude. "Thanks, Dan. You're right about that. But you don't really know what I'm going through. How would you think it'd be like, if Runo was taken away from you?"

He looked down at the ground and said, "You're right, Shun. I don't know what it's like. But if Runo and I couldn't be with each other, then I'd do everything in my power to be with her. Just like you and Alice are doing right now." When I smiled this time, it was one more of understanding. We didn't go back upstairs to the others. Dan and I just sat there in silence. I saw through the window, that the sun was going down behind the horizon. It would be night time soon. _Yet another night down, and another day to find the answer._

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><p>sorry for such a late upload. i had gotten mega distracted. o.o there will be an upload tomorrow afternoon. they may start to be later not cause my ride from school had bailed on me and i have to go home with a friend now. future references; no upload saturday, possibly sunday, monday, or thursday. for the time being HAPPY HALLOWEEN! so, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	33. Fatigante

_Shun_

Murucho had told us earlier in the day, that him and his team may be onto something. I wasn't sure what they had found, but it had given me hope that this was all going to be over soon. But lately, I had learned to not get your hopes up too soon. Murucho and his team of lawyers had locked themselves away in the meeting room for yet another week. Me, Dan, and the others had finally mixed it up; we were hanging around in Runo's café this time.

Runo's father walked over to the booth they had all squeezed into, and sat down a tray full of drinks and food. I wasn't over there. Main reason is that one, I didn't want to be stuck that closely to them. And two, I already had a headache and Dan's loud voice was the last thing I wanted in my ear. I was sitting by myself a few booths down, when Runo's mother stood at the side of the table and asked, "Are you sure you don't want anything? We have plenty to eat."

I shook my head and turned down her offer. She smiled, and her eyes showed sympathy. "Don't worry. You and Alice will be back together in no time." I was starting to grow tired of people telling me that. I had kept hearing it from everyone that knew about this, and I didn't want to hear it anymore.

It was like when a relative that you aren't really that close to dies and all of a sudden you hear from people you haven't heard from in years, and they're telling you how sorry they are for your lose. It's tolerable for the first day or so, but after the second or third week of explaining to people what happened and listening to their sympathy it starts to become irksome.

I did the polite though, and thanked her. She then left and returned to the kitchen. My hand was clenching the red leather cushions of the booth. It was the best thing I could do so I wouldn't lash out. Which I was dangerously close to doing right at the moment. I placed my arms on the cool tabletop in front of me before I made a hole in the cheap leather.

The white, flat surface was cool to my skin, and ended up sending chills up my arms. I took my hands and rubbed them away. The sound of heels tapping on the tile floor made me look up. It was Julie that had approached me this time. _Great. What doe she want?_

The dark skinned, silver haired girl sat across from me, and I felt her foot hit mine as she did so. She quickly pulled her foot away from mine from the sudden startle it gave her. I tried to make the aggravation I had inside visible on my face, so that way she might go and leave me alone. Sadly, it never worked out that way for; I was never that lucky. "Come on Shun, cheer up. We can't bare watching you act like we don't have a chance."

_How did I know she would say something like this?_ I looked down just enough where my hair covered my eyes completely, and I did a slow, deep chuckle. "Do you people ever shut up?" I knew they were all turned and looking at me after my remark. "See? Is it so hard to just be quiet and leave me alone? To just drop the whole ordeal with Alice and her guardians from hell? I'm aware of it, so you can quit bringing it back up."

I was still chuckling, and didn't notice the tears that were beginning to form in my eyes. I stood up from the booth and walked out of the door. Before it closed, I heard Jake say something like, "I think he's finally lost it."

_Shun_

I laughed at Jake's statement. _Lost it? Ha!_ I brought my hand up and wiped away the tear stains from my cheeks. Last thing I wanted was people on the streets seeing them and wondering what was wrong with me. I turned down another street, making sure to lose any of the others that may be trailing after me. Unlike back in Moscow when I got lost in the alleyways, I knew these streets.

I had spent many nights wondering them as a means to relax from a hard day of training or dealing with my grandfather yelling orders at me. The others may of known them as well, but not like I did. A few more turns, and I'd be right where I wanted to be. I walked down the familiar streets, and was faced with two large wooden doors, with tall, white walls lining them. The two doors had a large lock placed on it, and a for sale sign was stuck in the grass and another was taped on the wall.

They were selling my grandfather's dojo. _He didn't leave it in anyone's name. And apparently he didn't want to leave it to me either after our argument that ended with me kicked out of the family. _I grabbed onto the lock and pulled it, thinking that it would open. I sighed, as pulling only made the door move slightly and rattle. I disregarded trying the door, and used my ninja skills to easily leap over the wall, and I landed square on the other side. _Apparently somebody disabled the booby-traps, or else I'd be stuck with a hundred little needles._

Everything else was still the same though. The little fountain that had the bamboo that caught the water and eventually fell down then back up, were still there and running. I remembered many years back that I stood there across from Dan, and Masquerade was behind me and had given me a Doom Card to use against Dan.

Lucky for me at the time, my arrogance ended up with me saying I was too good to be on a team. I smiled. I hadn't changed that much since then. As Dan puts it at times, I was still and arrogant person, but I had every right to be. Another memory sparked in my thoughts. The memory of when I brought Fabia here after Dan and her had a brawl. I had brought her here to have her tell me her side of the story.

It ended in with a test of skills, which I guess you could say we were evenly matched. I walked up to the sliding doors of the dojo. They weren't locked. For one thing, there was no way to lock them, and even if there was, everyone knew about the booby-traps and were smart enough to stay away. As far as they knew, the traps were still here. I slid open the door. All of the belongings in the house were gone; even from my old room. I began to wonder what they did with all the furniture.

_They probably donated it. _Since there was nothing left in the dojo, I left out and walked around the building and into the forest behind it. The forest had all kinds of trees and bamboo growing rapidly throughout it, and it always seemed to have this foggy appearance. I seriously doubted anyone came back here, so I knew that the old storage building probably had all of its contents still inside. My assumption was correct, but there was more than I remembered in there.

All of my old belongings from my room were piled in there with all of the training supplies. _The old man must of moved it out of the dojo after our fight, as a theoretical means of kicking me out._ In a sense, I spent most of my time in this building. It was like my place of sanctity from the world. The wooden ladder that lead to the loft of the building was still there, and I began to climb up it.

Everything was still the same there. This was where I would sit for hours at night and look up at the moon, and sometimes play on my leaf whistle. I scanned the area, and found one of the old leaves I had played on at one point. Now it was shriveled up and brown; completely useless.

I went back down the ladder and started digging through the boxes of my old things. It was mainly just clothes and books that were of no use to me anymore, but I did find something of interest to me. It was a box next to the one I was pawing through, and it contained all of the old pictures I had stored up in the top of my closet. They were pictures of me, Dan, my grandfather, and mother when we were all younger.

I found one of my personal favorites. It showed me and Dan when were about six or seven and we had just been pulled apart from a fight by our mothers. We were still trying to get a hold of each other to finish our fight. I couldn't help but smile. More pictures were in the box; many of me and Dan, or school pictures. It never really crossed my mind how long I had really known Dan.

I had always known that our mothers were old friends, and that was probably how we knew each other. If it wasn't for that, then I wouldn't even of spent my two cents to even walk past him. I'd have to come back some other time and take the pictures back with me, because I did want to keep the majority of them. I closed the box back up and slid it back into the corner.

There was nothing else in the storage building, so I left out of it and started walking further into the woods. The day reminded me of when I was jumping from tree to tree and a random portal opened up and I sucked into New Vestroia; where I later joined the Resistance with Dan and the Vestals.

I knew what I was hunting for. It was this little pond/lake that was a little further into the woods. No, more like a large pond, because it was much too small to be a lake. In the center, was like a small island where I used to sit and meditate. My grandfather never knew about the small body of water as far as I knew.

I finally came upon it, and it looked just the same as last time I saw it. I thought about when somebody would buy this place, and if they'd ever find the places that were sacred to me. I didn't take to fondly to the idea of somebody else moving into the place where I had spent much of my life, but I remembered that I had given all of this away to have a new life with Alice in Moscow.

I jumped up and landed on the small island in the center of the large pond. I looked into the water before I sat down, and saw my reflection. The way I was standing, made me look stronger than I felt. I liked it though, and sat on the little green, grass covered island, taking in deep breaths as I did.

_Dan_

We didn't bother to chase down after Shun when he ran off. Due to trial and error, we had learned it was almost physically impossible to find him when he pulled one of his legendary vanishing acts; no matter how worried we were about him. He always came back though.

It may be days or even weeks, but he did. Besides, Shun probably did need his space, since we had all been crowding around him to reassure him that he would be back with Alice soon. I will admit we had seemed to milk the topic way too was over next to Julie and trying to explain to her that it wasn't her fault that Shun completely blew a fuse, but Julie was just as hardheaded as I was at times.

We were all fully aware of Shun's true anger though, and when he flipped earlier, that wasn't his real anger. He was more annoyed than anything. The sun would set in a few hours, and we would have to leave the café soon to return back to Murucho's mansion. Just as we were about to leave, Shun walked in through the door and looked at us.

He seemed to of cooled down a lot compared to when he snapped. A smile slid across his face, and his eyes were sincere when he said, "Sorry if what I did earlier was a little out of line. It's just been a crazy month." I smiled myself and gave him a thumbs up and told him, "No problem, buddy. We'd all probably do the same thing."

He closed his eyes, but was still smiling. "Thanks. It's just all so tiring." I walked up to him and placed a hand on his back and said, "Trust me, from somebody who knows tiring, I understand where you're coming from." Shun looked at me and said sarcastically, "Dan, being lazy doesn't count as being tiring. Tiresome perhaps, but not tiring."

The others were laughing before I could even figure out what Shun had said to me. When I did, the others only laughed harder, and I couldn't help but laugh myself. Wherever Shun ran off to this time, he needed to go more often.

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><p>**The title <em>Fatigante<em> is a song by some french band called Louise Attaque, and _Fatigante _means tiring in french, so the title of this chapter is tiring. XP lol. we learn something everyday, dont we? the song itself is pretty catchy though. :/ lol. just a reminder, no upload tomorrow and possibly sunday and no upload monday or thursday. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~


	34. Paranoid Expectations

_Shun_

_Tap. Tap. Tap. _I whipped my head around and glared at Dan, who was tapping the eraser of a pencil on the table. He froze and seemed confused. "What? Why are you staring at me?" I leaned forward and snatched the pencil from his hand and put it on the other side of me where he couldn't get to it. "You're being annoying." My friend crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. I rolled my eyes and wondered how I had dealt with him for so many years. "Can I please have my pencil back, Shun?"

I raised an eyebrow and said, "Why do you want it back? You weren't even doing anything. Besides being annoying as hell." Dan sighed and we both turned to see Murucho walk into the room. He had made all of us cram into the meeting room to give us this months progress. Yes. Another month down and no answer. Maybe Murucho had finally found something.

The short blonde looked very professional as he stood in front of all of the lawyers he had hired. Only Murucho was smiling, while the rest had the facial expressions of statues. I saw Dan's hand crawling past me and trying to get his pencil back. I narrowed my eyes at him and hit him in his stomach with my fist. His hands quickly grabbed onto his stomach, and he laid his head on the table as he tried to get his breath back. I looked back at Murucho and apologized. The blonde was trying hard to refrain from laughing, but he couldn't help but let a smile escape. I heard Dan mumble his hatred for me under his breath. That only made me smile more. Julie jumped up from her seat and squealed, "Come on, Murucho! Give us the news!"

_News? I thought this was another progress meeting._ My interest was sparked now. Murucho cleared his throat and tapped a stack of papers straight on the table, then laid them down. "I think I'll let my head lawyer deliver the news." The head lawyer, was tall but very round in the face and abdomen area. He didn't look like the lawyer type at all. The rest did with there identical haircuts, suits, and faces. It looked like they had all been molded in some factory that mass produced lawyers.

For such a large man, his voice was very light and high pitched. It also sounded slightly nasally. "Well, we found a loophole in section 34 A. But it will take a few more days to make sure it's enough. Maybe a week at the most." I could of jumped out of my seat if it weren't for the table in front of me. I found myself exclaiming, "You mean we actually found what we were looking for?"

I had my eyes fixed on the lawyer, and I was desperately awaiting his answer. Adrenaline pulsed through my body and making it to where anything could send me off. He adjusted the glasses on this nose and told me, "At the moment yes. But we're still just running precautionary actions." My hands were gripping onto the table, and my fingers were turning white from the force I was putting on them. A random thought then ran across my mind; Alice would be due in a few weeks. _I hope like hell this is our holy grail._

_Alice_

I wrapped myself up in my purple jacket as I snuck from my Aunt and Uncle's house and out to their car with the keys dangling in my hand. I could feel that I was due soon, even though I knew anyway. I didn't want to take any chances of being caught in that house when my baby came. I remembered what Shun told me before he left for Bay City to find our answer with Murucho.

_"When the baby comes, run like hell to Khimiki."_ It was the closest city to Moscow that we knew well enough. And thanks to links to Murucho, we could stay at the cabin if needed. The car started and I drove back in the direction of the music store that Shun worked at before our lives fell apart. I'd need help getting to my destination, and Snake and Omaki were the only two people I could come up with at such a short time. It wasn't a long drive. Maybe thirty or forty minutes at the most.

And with no traffic on the streets at this time of night, my time would be cut in half. I had just turned onto the street that housed not only the store, but the halfway house Snake lived at. I didn't want to go there, but I knew I could stay there until further notice. It wasn't hard to find, being the tallest building for blocks amongst the shorter ones that belonged to small businesses. I parked the car on the side of the street and climbed out. I hated how difficult it was to move now.

I walked up the concrete steps and rang the door buzzer. An elderly lady opened the door, and wrapped herself up in a coat to protect herself from the cold night air. She saw me and said, "How may I help you?" I suddenly felt silly for going here at this time of night, but it was the only chance I had to escape. "I came here to have somewhere to stay until my baby's born and I also need to speak to Snake." She looked me over. It was plain to see I wasn't homeless, abused, or lost. But she couldn't turn down anyone who came to this place asking for help. It was against the laws.

She yelled back into the building, "Geoffrey! Come here! Some girl wants to talk to you!" I shivered as the cold nipped at my exposed hands. I tucked them into my jacket pockets and sighed. I saw my breath appear from my mouth. "I told you not to call me Geoffrey dammit!" The lady rolled her eyes and walked away from the door and Snake stood where she once did. His eyes widened. "Alice? What are you doing here?" He peered over my shoulder and saw my Aunt and Uncle's high jacked car.

"I need to speak to you. Could you come out here please?" He told me to wait a second and walked out with me with a black leather jacket on. I could smell the leather and treatments that had put on it to keep it from drying out. "Snake, you have to drive me to Khimiki when my baby's born. You're the only one who won't rat me out to my Aunt or Uncle. Please tell me you'll do it." He knew what the stakes were if he didn't take me. I could end up being taken to a hospital within Moscow and wouldn't have any say if I kept my baby or not.

I just hoped that Snake would get off of his high-horse for one minute. "Please Snake. Do this for not just me, but Shun too." Snake did his sly grin and told me, "Well, normally I wouldn't do something out of charity at such short notice. But since it's you and Sparky, I'll make an exception in my policy." I smiled, and felt my eyes water up.

"Snake, you're unbelievable. But what would any of us do without you?" He put up his arms and walked around me. "Well, let's see. Sparky wouldn't have a job, I'd be friendless still, and you wouldn't have an amazing friend to take you to a hospital miles away from here. So, I think we'd be all skrewed." He was completely right.

_Dan_

I removed my focus from my confiscated pencil when I heard that Murucho and his team had found our long awaited answer. I saw the joy sparkling in Shun's eyes. This was probably the best thing that had happened to him since Alice was ripped away from him. I was happy for him. I didn't think I could watch him suffer every antagonizing day wondering if we had an answer or not. There was always a hope as he waited to hear the days finds, and if there were none you could see the hope vanish. But there was always a fire behind that vanquished hope. One that wouldn't ever go out till they were reunited once again. Julie broke the happy silence and said, "We should go out and celebrate our victory!" Runo shook her head and told her, "But Julie, we don't know if it's a definite loophole."

Julie was going all cheerleader on us now. "Quit trying to be a downer, Runo. We should celebrate anyway!" Julie was yelling now, and the lawyers had their ears covered with their hands. None of us were really phased by her screaming since we had dealt with her for so many years. Runo was trying to quiet her down so the lawyers could still hear when they went home. Shun had an eyebrow as the two girls screamed at each other, and shook his head.

He yelled over them to me, "I think I'm going to get out of here before I go deaf!" I caught parts of what he had said, but put two and two together and figured it out. "I think I will too!" We both left from the meeting room and it was immediately calmer. Although you could still hear the yelling and wails of miserable and tortured lawyers. Shun rubbed his temples and sighed. He said, "How the hell can she get any louder?" I laughed and told him, "Well, she is a cheerleader."

This was the Shun I knew. Joking around about anything, but still being serious. The door opened to the meeting room, and you could hear the two girls were still yelling. Murucho slammed the door closed and leaned his back against it. He was panting when he said, "I got trapped….In the room….I didn't think I'd make it out alive. Or with my hearing." I held onto my sides as I started laughing. Murucho narrowed his eyes at me and said, "It's not funny, Dan. I could of lost my hearing!"

I wiped a tear from my eye and smiled as I said, "Sorry, Murucho. I just had a funny image." The blonde shook his head and walked into another room. I looked around for Shun, and saw he was looking out of a window. "Everything ok, buddy?" He turned around and smiled.

"Yeah. I just can't believe that all of this is finally ending. It almost seems too good to be true, and I keep expecting something to go wrong." I patted my friend on the back and told him, "If you keep thinking like that then something might. You gotta stay positive." He nodded his head. But truthfully, we all were expecting that now this whole thing was going right, something would turn left and crash into us.

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><p>I'MMMM BAAAACK! XP lol. i was about to not upload after finishing my zombie fic, but i'm such a workaholic. XP can't take a break to save my life. lol. me and my friend are plotting to make a band. lol. lord help us. XD well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	35. Not So Perfect Timing

_Alice_

The halfway house wasn't as bad as Snake had once made it out to be, if you took away the all the screaming. I had no choice but to take the couch or sleep on the floor. The yelling upstairs grew louder and more audible, and I picked up my pillow and covered my face with it to try and drown out the sound. It didn't work very well. I sighed with agitation. There wasn't anyway I'd be able to fall asleep. Not with dawn approaching soon. I wasn't the only one up, cause Snake walked into the living room.

"They keep you up?" I raised and eyebrow and said, "Uh, yeah. How could you sleep with all of that going on?" He laughed and reached into a large glass bowl that was full of candy and took out a lollipop. Snake unwrapped it and said, "Trust me, if you've been here as long as I have then you're used to it." He stuck the lollipop in his mouth once he finished his sentence. _Sugar? At this hour? Well, I guess he has to get ready for work somehow._ "So, ya ready to go?" I stared at him and was confused.

"Go? Go where?" Snake rolled his eyes as if I should know what he was talking about. I heard him crack the lollipop in his mouth. "God, are you really that slow? Go to work. Cause I really doubt you wanna stay here with these people." He didn't give me a chance to say anything when he grabbed my wrist and pulled me from the couch and towards the door. Snake threw a coat into my arms.

I tried to tell him, "Wait! I should probably clean up!" He hunted for his car keys amongst all of the others. Snake snatched them up and stared at the keys as if he were marveling them. He stuck them in his pocket and told me, "Omaki left some of her stuff at the store. You can use it to freshen up when we get there. Now lets scram before the rest of those people up there wake up." I now knew why Snake spent all of his time at the store; he was trying to stay as far away from this place as long as he could. I stuck my arms through the coat he had thrown me and walked outside with him.

The sun was rising, and the sky was a light gray and orange with tons of puffy clouds floating by. It was just as cold now as it was last night when I had snuck from my Aunt and Uncle's. Snake still had the stick to the lollipop in his mouth, even though there was nothing left on it. He stuck the keys into a car that I had never seen him in before. I asked him, "New car?" He gave me that sly grin that meant there was trouble to be made. "Well, new to me." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Whose car are you stealing?" Snake laughed and opened the passenger door for me. It would be very gentleman like, if it was somebody other than Snake. He said to me, "What's it to you if I'm taking somebody's car? Last time I checked, you took that one over there."

He pointed to my Aunt's car that I had stolen in the late hours of the night before. I sighed and climbed into the car. It wasn't like I had much of a choice. After a few seconds in that car, I had discovered that Snake was a driving maniac. Speed limit couldn't possibly be in his vocabulary. But this just proved he could get where he was going, and that reassured me of making it to a hospital when my baby was born. Snake whipped the car perfectly into a parking spot, and turned it off. I had my hands latched onto the seat, and wasn't about to let go until I knew that everything was over.

He tapped on my window and asked, "You coming in or just gunna sit there like some kind of weirdo?" I climbed out of the car. The other businesses weren't even open yet. Snake unlocked the door to the store and took in a deep breath before walking in. He said, "Ah. The magic hour." There was something unworldly about this time of the day during the late fall months. I found the things Omaki had left in the employee bathroom. Everything was tucked away in a Zip-Lock. She had a hairbrush and some make-up. I opened the baggie and took out the hairbrush since I was never one to ever wear much make-up anyway.

She had some perfume in the baggie too, and I sprayed a little bit of it on me. Feeling a little bit more cleaned up now, I walked back into the main part of the store. I asked Snake, "Are you sure she won't mind me using her stuff?" He was bent down and restocking the magazine racks. "Nah. She'll be cool with it." I took the top magazine off of a stack that Snake had yet to start restocking and flipped through the pages. It had everything from the best to worst guitars ever made, and top 100 artists of the month.

"Put that back when you're done looking. And try not to bend any of the pages. Collectors don't like bent pages." I ignored Snake and kept looking in the magazine, but made sure that I was careful with the edges. Last thing I wanted was Snake all up in my face cause I bent the end of one page and the whole thing would be ruined. A sharp pain shot through me and caused me to drop the magazine.

I heard Snake say, "Yo! I thought I said be careful! Hey, what's wrong?" This couldn't be happening now. I had a few more weeks to go. I told Snake while holding my stomach where my baby was. " I think the baby's coming." Snake raised an eyebrow at me and laughed.

"Please tell me you're joking, Alice." I narrowed my gaze at him and said seriously, "Do I look like I'm joking?" He put up his hands in defense, and I made my way to a chair to sit down. He flipped out his cell phone and started punching in a number. I asked him sternly, "Who the hell are you calling at a time like this?" He put the phone up to his ear and smiled. I could hear the ringing. "I'm calling Sparky. Who else would I be calling at a time like this?"

_Shun_

No new word had come in about whether Murucho and those lawyers were a hundred percent sure about what they had found. Ten again, we had just gotten the news yesterday. All of us were sitting around in the sitting room, even Murucho had joined up with us during his break.

Dan and Runo were arguing as usual, Murucho was trying to help Julie understand something that was fairly simple to everyone else, and Jake and Fabia were just making conversation. Fabia. Seemed like recently that I had totally forgotten Fabia was helping. Yeah we had put all of our differences aside to focus on the goal ahead of us, but we never crossed paths enough.

But with everyone talking, I was left by myself. I started to wish to hear from Alice, or at least something about her. Whether she was doing ok and holding up, or was being held prisoner at her Uncle and Aunt's. I just wanted to hear something. My wish had been granted when my phone rang. Everyone fell silent. The only ones with my number were Dan and the others, Alice, and Snake. It was quite obvious that it wasn't anyone in the room, and Alice had no access to a phone.

That only left Snake. I checked the caller-ID and saw his number on the little screen. Something about this call didn't seem like just a friendly hello. I flipped open the phone and said hello. I heard Snake's overconfident voice on the other end. "Hey, Sparky. Listen, just to let you know, me and your girl are en route to the nearest hospital in Khimiki. Yeah, you probably figured out why just by hearing Khimiki. Well, I can't drive very well when talking so I'll call ya later. Bye!"

He clicked the phone off, but I kept the phone to my ear. The little buzzing started to go off and was trying to tell me that the call had been ended and that it was time for me to hang up. I slowly lowered the phone from my ear, and snapped it closed. Dan was the first to ask, "Is everything ok, buddy? You look a little pale." I found it difficult to speak, but eventually found my words. "Alice might be in labor."

_Alice_

Snake's driving skills hadn't ceased to amaze me yet as he expertly swerved in and out of traffic. I kept waiting for a cop to pull us over, but one never came. We were closing in on the Moscow city limits, and approaching Khimiki. Sharp, sudden bolts of pain kept shooting through me. I wanted Snake to hurry so I could get this over with already. But even I knew that it wasn't that simple. I was probably looking at hours of agonizing pain ahead of me. And making it to the hospital quicker wouldn't really make any difference to that. We just crossed the city limits, and we began the search for the Trinity Hospital of Outer Khimiki.

We had looked it up and saw it was the closest hospital to the city limits, and out best chance of making it in time. The road went from packed to desolate the second we went over the city line. That just proved how small this little town was. The hospital on the other hand, wasn't so small. We easily spotted it from the road, and Snake turned onto the street that lead to it.

The parking lot didn't have that many cars in it as we pulled into one of the spaces. Snake rushed to my side and helped me out. Another shot of pain hit me, worse than the last. The second we cleared the doors, it was obvious to the nurse at the sign-in station that I needed help. She pressed a button and several more nurses came running into the main lobby. One had brought in a wheelchair.

I didn't think they'd make such a big deal out of this, but they probably hadn't had anything interesting happen lately. They had placed me in the chair and started to wheel me towards the elevators. They turned me around as we waiting for the elevator to take us up. I saw a nurse talking to Snake, and he was shaking his head. I heard him say, "Listen lady. I'm not the father. I'm just a friend."

The nurse didn't seem to believe him and started to push him into another room. I smiled, but it disappeared as the sudden pain returned. The elevator dinged and the nurse wheeled my in. There was some boring music playing over the speaker as we went up. The elevator stopped on the third floor, and I was wheeled out and into a room and laid in a bed. The nurse smiled and told me, "Don't worry. We're going to take good care of you." She left out of the room, and I wondered how long it would take Shun to get here.

_Shun_

The panic set in, and I wasn't even there at the hospital. Murucho called Kato in the room and told him to start up the jet for a sudden trip to Khimiki. None of us even got together our belongings as we hurried up to the running jet on the roof.

The only one who brought anything, was Murucho. He held a stack of stapled papers as he caught up behind us. I knew it was the loophole that they had possibly found. I asked him before climbing into the jet, "Are you sure this will work?" Murucho looked down at the papers and told me honestly, "I'm really not sure if it will or not. But it's our best chance."

I nodded my head and climbed into the jet before Murucho did, and took a seat across from Dan. I felt the jet lift off of the platform and take off in the direction of Khimiki. Everything seemed to be going so fast all of a sudden. It wouldn't be long till we made it to Khimiki with the way Kato was flying. I wanted to hurry up and get there, but at the same time I wanted everything to just stop in motion. Cause I just felt like I wasn't ready.

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><p>well, i can't think of anything other than WOO! WEEKEND! read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


	36. Our Love Story's Ending

_Shun_

Air traffic regulations seemed to be ridiculous. No matter where you went. The people down on the ground in the air tower, were doing nothing more than wasting our time by making Kato request landing permission. We could of already made it to the hospital by now. I flipped open my phone and read over the text that Snake had sent to me earlier. It had the name of the hospital and street.

We had been flying for two or three hours, and I wanted to be on the ground again. They finally gave Kato permission to land, and the minute the jet touched the ground I bolted from it. Dan chased after me and grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me to a stop. "Chill buddy! There's no fire."

The others filled out of the jet and walked up behind Dan. Murucho still had his stack of papers and told me, "Kato and I are going to head to Moscow and show them what we had found in there law. You guys head on towards the hospital. And Shun, tell Alice I said hello." Kato and Murucho headed towards a rental car they had called in at some point. Another drove up behind theirs after they left. I knew it was for us because it had enough seats for the six of us. I got back out my phone and read the driver the directions towards the hospital. He seemed to understand me clearly and started driving. _Thank God for bilingual people._ It was a twenty minute drive to get to the hospital, and that surprised me because it would take you twenty minutes to just get to the other side of the small town.

The hospital looked brand new as we drove into the parking lot. The six of us walked into the main lobby, and Dan said to me, "I'll go ask that lady what floor they have Alice on." I guessed Dan thought I couldn't speak and ask questions myself. Well, he was right for the moment. My brain had still yet to register what was going on. All I was full aware of was that I was in a Khimiki hospital and Alice was having her baby. Dan came back to us and said, "She's on the third floor. We won't be able to see her though until the baby's born." That was self-explanatory. We easily found the elevator and Dan pushed the third floor button.

There was some mellow jazz music playing over the speaker, but it wasn't helping to calm me down. The first thing we saw when the elevator doors opened up, were three nurses and two doctors trying to drag Snake into another room.

He was yelling at them, "How many times do I have to tell you people I ain't the freaking father! I'm a friend!" He had his feet on the doorframe to hold himself in place as the staff tried to drag him into the room. This was really an odd site. "Snake?" He turned and saw me and the others and smiled. "Sparky! Hey, you came at just the right time. Tell these idiots that I'm not the father of your kid so they'll let me go."

The nurses and doctors were looking at me for an answer, and I nodded my head slowly. They looked at each other and shrugged, then let go of Snake's hands. Snake fell to the ground with a thud, and they walked off. He got up off the floor and brushed himself off and walked over to us. Dan whispered over to me, "You know this guy?" Snake was fixing his hair and clothes when I whispered back to Dan, "Sadly, yes." Dan raised an eyebrow, and looked unsure of what to think of Snake.

_Yeah, I was the same way._ I walked over to Snake and asked him, "So, how's Alice doing?" He looked back over at the door that he was almost pulled through and told me, "I wish I knew, Sparky. But every since I got here I was trying to convince these idiots that I wasn't you." I sighed. I seriously doubted they would even let me in the room now after this long. Looked like I'd have to wait.

And my patience was already running thin, so I seriously thought that I'd go insane. I sat down in one of the chairs that were on the end of every hall as little waiting rooms. This was all I could do at the moment. It always seemed like I spent way too much time in hospitals, and it was getting really old. Dan sat down in the chair next to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

I looked at his with narrowed eyes. Dan knew I didn't like people being too close to me when I wanted to be by myself. But I needed it. Dan told me, "Just relax buddy. This will all be over with in no time. I guarantee it." In reality, Dan sucked at pep talks. But it was the thought of him trying that counted.

_Shun_

Somebody was touching my shoulder while I was sleeping. I opened my tired eyes and saw an oddly chipper nurse. _Are all the hospitals drugging their staff now?_ I sat up, and saw the rest of my friends were asleep in chairs and even on the floor. I also saw that Murucho wasn't back yet. I turned back to the nurse. "Yes?" The others were starting to stir and wake up now that there was noise going on. How long had we been asleep? An hour? Two maybe?

The nurse told us, "Everything went smoothly with Miss Alice and you're allowed to see her one at a time." I guess it was my half awake mind, but it took a minute to register what she had told me after she left from the room. I heard Dan say, "Damn. We've been out for four hours." _Man, my guess was way off._ Runo stood up and stretched, then walked over to me and said, "Shun, you should be the first to go and see Alice."

Now it hit me. Alice had her baby sometime while we had all passed out. I was happy that I survived those four hours. I nodded to Runo and sleepily walked down the hall and found Alice's room. It had been over two months since we had last seen each other. I wondered how much she had changed in that short of time, and how much I had changed as well. The door opened smoothly, and the room looked nice for the most part. I saw Alice laying in the bed her eyes were closed. I said softly, "Alice? You awake?"

I doubted it. After what she went through I was positive she was exhausted. But her eyes opened, and she nearly shot out of the bed when she saw me. "Shun! Oh my god! You're here!" I had to stop her from getting out of her bed.

I was sure it wouldn't be good to let her get up and move around yet. I walked to the side of her bed and we both hugged each other at the same time. We sat there for several minutes before we let go. I sat next to her on the edge of the bed. I saw he stomach wasn't stretched out anymore, and smiled. I told her, "And I had just gotten used to seeing you the other way." She laughed and told me, "Me too."

_Alice_

I was really surprised to see Shun so soon. I thought it'd take him a little bit longer to make it to the hospital. _I guess Kato flew like Snake drives._ Shun handed me the bottle of water a nurse had brought in for me a while ago. I took the bottle from him. He must of seen I was getting thirsty. I wasn't hurting anymore though. The nurses had given me some kind of super good pain killers, and you could of stabbed me in my leg and it wouldn't of bothered me.

I drank my water, and set it next to me on the part of the bed that Shun wasn't sitting on. He looked the same as when I last saw him. Although his hair had grown longer, but that was about it. He asked me, "So, what's the baby look like?" I wasn't really sure. "They didn't give me a chance to see it before they took me back to my room."

I could see this was killing Shun, and it was killing me too. I wanted to know just as bad as he did. They would probably bring the baby in after everyone had visited and everything seemed to be ok. The door opened again, and Dan and the others walked in. Shun looked at them and said, "I thought the nurse said only one at a time." Dan shrugged his shoulders and told him, "Well, the nurse wasn't doing anything to stop us. We can go if you want."

I looked at Shun, and he told me, "Up to you if you want them in here." I smiled at them and said, "You guys can stay in here. I don't mind." Runo and Julie were the first out of the group to run to the other side of my bed. Dan and Jake stayed and talked with Shun. I couldn't make out their conversation over Julie's squealing. Snake finally walked into the room. "Hey! What's up girlie?"

I smiled. It was good to see that Snake had still stuck around. I asked him, "How long did it take for them to finally figure out that you weren't Shun?" He rolled his eyes and started on his rant. "They stayed at for hours until Sparky finally showed up and corrected their mistake and then they just literally left me on the floor."

I saw Shun looked a little annoyed with all of the people in the room. I should of added in the factor that he might of wanted to spend some time with me since we had been separated for so long. But I didn't want to be rude to our friends, and I knew that Shun was aware of that as well. And that was why he was sucking it up. A doctor then came into the room and froze as he saw all of the people in the room now.

"There's supposed to be only one visitor at a time." Julie wrapped her arms around my shoulder and squeezed me. She told him, "Sorry if we broke your rules, but we just wanted to see our Alice." The doctor looked over the room again and sighed. "Ok. I'll let this slide. I was just coming to tell you that everything's ok with your baby. Do you want us to bring the baby in here for you to see?" Well, duh. Sun's eyes were wide, and I knew he must have been nervous. I liked seeing him like that. It was a change from the seriousness. I smiled and nodded my head.

_Shun_

I was finally about to see my baby. Julie and Runo were squealing to each other. I never would understand why girls did that. The doctor left the room, and I felt my stomach flip. I hated when I was like this. But it had to be normal, right? I felt Alice squeeze my hand. How was she so calm? _Oh yeah. That's right. She was the one going through all of that stress a few hours ago._ A nurse came back holding something wrapped in a blanket. I knew what it was.

She handed the baby to Alice and told her, "Here's your baby girl." The nurse then left the room. _So it's a girl._ Runo and Julie were saying how cute the baby was. I saw she had black hair like me, but had Alice's eyes. She looked more like Alice than anything to me. I was sure that Alice would say she looked liked me, but I think that falls under opinions. Runo asked Alice, "So, what are you two going to name her?" Neither of us had ever thought about what we would name the baby.

We had all other kinds of stuff going on to think about it. Alice thought for a minute before turning to me and saying, "How about Rowan?" It had a nice ring to it, and was a very pretty name. I told her, "Sounds perfect to me." Murucho then walked into the room. All of us turned to him. Him being right there could only mean one of two things; the plan worked or failed. Murucho smiled and flashed a single paper in front of us. I snatched it from him and read it. I couldn't help but smile.

Dan was asking me what it said. I turned to him and said, "The city of Moscow has decided to reduce the age required to still have a guardian down to 20." Once everyone figured out what that meant, we all clapped for Murucho. All of his hard work had paid off finally.

In the end everything had seemed to work out, even though it was hell to get there. Alice and I could finally be together without any interference from overprotective relatives. We could live how we wanted to. I smiled at her and asked the others, "Could you give me and Alice a minute or two?"

They didn't protest as they all left from the room. Alice asked me, "What do you want to tell me?" I told her, "I didn't want the others to freak out when I asked you." She raised an eyebrow. "Ask me what?" I smiled. "If you'll marry me." She leaned up and kissed me on my lips. "Of course."

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><p>well, i wrapped up another story. XP i dont know if there will be another to go along with this one. but i'm thinking about doing a short fic about when Shun and Alice were seperated and what went on with Snake and Omaki during that time. kinda like a behind the scenes thing. XP i had gotten some insperation from a Skillet song yesterday and i am now thinking of converting it into a song based fic. (as you can see i like doing those) well, tell me what you think about my Snake and Omaki story idea and read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~<p> 


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